


No Place Like Home

by Novaviis



Series: Watercolour [27]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Death Fix, Developing Relationship, Eventual Smut, Family Issues, Family Reunions, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, M/M, Minor Artemis Crock/Zatanna Zatarra, Minor Conner Kent/M'gann M'orzz, Reunions, Road Trips, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-22
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2019-10-14 10:19:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 49,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17506730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Novaviis/pseuds/Novaviis
Summary: Wally's return doesn't happen all at once. His homecoming occurs in stages; from telling his friends, to telling his family. This isn't something to be rushed. You can't take something that was dead and pull the sheet back to bring it to life again. After two years apart, Dick and Wally must learn that the same can be said about a dead relationship. It takes time, and it takes tears, but in the end, that doesn't matter - because Wally ishome.There are no yellow brick roads to follow here. They'll figure out the rest.





	1. My Old Friends (no need to tell me where you've been)

**Author's Note:**

> Here is is, folks. The Reunion fic you've been asking for. To be honest, I've had this plotted out for months now, but for some reason kept waiting for the "right time" to sit down and write it out. The right time doesn't exist. Delayed gratification is for weenies. In 2019, we indulge ourselves in all the fluff we want. 
> 
> Inspired by "No Place Like Home" by Mariana's Trench.

 

M’gann sat at the table in the sun room, biting her nails down to her fingertips as she stared out the window. A bit of an arbitrary habit - she could easily grow them back, or shrink them down to any size she’d like, but it seemed like one of those Earth habits she’d picked up. A nervous tick, and her nerves were strong that golden evening. The sun was shining in at a low angle, painting the sky with peach, and picking up drifting fluff from the cotton wood trees at the edge of the state. The late afternoon was liquid, seeping down into the pond water below the window, still as glass. Wayne Manor, for all its Gothic architecture, did have a certain charm in the waning daylight. Too bad it didn’t seem like enough to settle her nerves.

“M’gann,” Zatanna startled the Martian out of her reverie, snapping her gaze away from the window. “You okay?

Jolting upright in her chair, M’gann looked up at her friend, shrinking back under the high arch of her questioning brow. “Hm? Oh! Yeah, yeah, of course I am,” M’gann stammered.

They were gathered at Wayne Manor that evening, the seven of them. Raquel had yet to arrive, leaving M’gann, Artemis, Zatanna, Kaldur, and Conner to wait in the Sun Room. Dick had vanished somewhere into the massive house not long after they’d arrived, telling them to make themselves at home and that he’d be back in a bit. No one had really minded, or thought twice about it, honestly. But that had been nearly half  an hour ago, and still the former Boy Wonder was nowhere to be seen. Alfred had come in at one point to bring a in a platter of artichoke dip with pita chips and a bottle of Proseco, but unfortunately questioning the butler for Dick’s whereabouts proved fruitless.

The food and wine was good, at least, although it wasn’t going to last much longer if they were kept waiting. Between Conner and Zatanna, nearly half of the dip was gone already, and M’gann found the bottle still sitting in its ice bowl more and more tempting as time went on. Swirling what was left in her current glass, she took a sip and pointedly avoided eye contact with Zatanna’s questioning gaze.

Zatanna shrugged, crossing the room to drop herself on the chaise lounge Artemis was currently sprawled across. The blonde didn’t seem so willing to let it go. “You sure?” she questioned as Zatanna made herself comfortable, draped over her side.

M’gann took another sip. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’ve been tense ever since we got here,” Conner pointed out from the seat next to her. He laid his hand on top of hers, brows drawing at the center as he looked at her in concern. It was so incredibly endearing, but the effect was a little lost on the fact that Conner currently had smear of artichoke dip on his cheek.

M’gann tried not to laugh, and utterly failed as she swiped her thumb over Conner’s cheek. “I’m fine,” she insisted. “Just got a lot on my mind. I’ll explain later. Promise.”

Whether or not anyone in the room believed her or not, there wasn’t much time to contest it. Raquel soon came down the hall and through the french doors into the Sun Room with Amistad in tow. “Sorry I’m late,” she sighed as she shrugged her purse off her shoulder, struggling to get her jacket off at the same time, too. “My sitter canceled on me last minute, and my Mom’s working late tonight, so I had to bring Amistad along.” Kneeling down in front of her son, Raquel took his jacket off and held him by the shoulders. “Don’t touch _nothing_ , you understand? Everything here probably costs twice your college tuition.”

“I won’t touch anything,” Amistad repeated dutifully. “Can I have my game, now?”

Raquel held out for just a moment longer, giving her son a hard look, before giving in. She reached into her purse, pulling out a small device and handing it over with a ruffle to his hair. The seven-year-old took the game and immediately planted himself in an armchair in the far corner of the room, perfectly happy to plug in his headphones and ignore the adults for the rest of the night. With that taken care of, Raquel hung up their jackets on a coat hanger by the door, and immediately afterwards directed her attention to the Prosecco. “Alright, now Mama needs a drink,” she sighed as she crossed over to the table. She picked up a glass and a bottle, her face dropping when she noticed all of the melted ice in the bowl. “Damn, it’s already gone warm.”

No sooner had she spoken, the bottle was slowly covered in a layer of frost, creeping up the sides of the emerald glass. When Raquel looked over her shoulder, Kaldur’s tattoos were just fading with blue light as he lowered his arm.

She shot him a grin. “Thank you, Kal.”

“I’ll have another glass, if you’re pouring,” M’gann offered her glass out with a smile.

Once she’d finished pouring her own, Raquel gladly took M’gann’s glass and topped her up. “So,” Raquel said as she passed the wine back to the Martian. “Anyone got any idea why we’re here?”

“Dick only said that he wanted to have everyone over for the evening,” Kaldur replied, seated on one of the couches by the rustic little fireplace against the wall. “I did not think there was any particular reason.”

“Except one,” Artemis ticked off her fingers one by one, “he actually said he wanted everyone _together_. That usually means there’s something more to it. Two, he went to a lot of trouble to make sure that _all_ of us could make it. Three, he invited us to _Wayne Manor_ , instead of his apartment. Four,” Artemis grinned, “this is Dick Grayson we’re talking about. He’s always got some ulterior motive.”

“Do not.”

Standing in the doorway with his arms crossed against his chest, Dick mock glared at Artemis with a grin threatening to split his _very_ serious demeanour. It didn’t last more than five seconds after Artemis had unapologetically flipped him off. Dick laughed, shaking his head as he walked into the Sun Room. He took a seat on the armrest of a chair by the door, not quite ready to get comfortable. The others noticed, though they didn’t say anything. Dick didn’t betray distress, or anything that would make them concerned. If anything, he was behaving a little like M’gann at the moment - nervous, though not anxious. It was enough to peak their interest.

“Well then,” Raquel drawled as she carried her glass over to the bench under the window. She leaned back against the alcove wall, drawing her leg up and giving Dick a long, sweeping gesture, “maybe Mr. No-Ulterior-Motives would like to tell us what we’re doing here?”

Dick shrugged. “C’mon, I just wanted to have a nice night in with my friends. Drink some wine, hang out, maybe take a dip in the indoor-pool. What’s so hard to believe about that?”

“It’s hard to believe because we _know_ you,” Conner leaned back in his chair, one arm draped over the backrest.

Floundering for a response, Dick pushed his hand back through is hair. “It’s not like this is some weird, out of the blue thing. We’ve hung out here before,” he defended himself. That much was true, but those gatherings had been rare in the past several years. Once Dick had told them his identity, Wayne Manor had become an occasional meeting ground for them when they wanted a change of scenery from the Cave. However, it had been ages since Dick had invited them over.

“It’s not the setting that’s off,” Raquel swung her legs over the side of the bench, sitting up straighter so she could look at Dick head on. “It’s y- Amistad Augustus Ervin, you _better_ get your feet off that table!”

Across the room, Amistad flinched, slowly lowering his feet from where he’d kicked them up on an end table. “Sorry, Mama,” he apologized before turning his attention back to his game.

With the interruption effectively shattering the rising tension, Dick couldn’t help but laugh and drop his head. When he looked up again, his eyes drifted toward M’gann, smile softening as he gave her a short nod. M’gann instantly relaxed into her chair, her nerves dissipating in an instant. She gave him an encouraging nod in return, the exchange going unnoticed by the rest of the old Team.

“Alright, alright,” Dick held his hands up in mock surrender. “You caught me. I wasn’t lying, I do want to spend some time with you guys tonight, but... there is a reason I asked you all to come.” It was all he needed to say to get their attention. His friends turned back to him with burning curiosity. “I... actually wanted to talk about Wally.”

The room went quiet. Everyone sat up just a little straighter, held their breath high in their chests, glanced at each other in mixed concern and bewilderment. Dick didn’t really talk about Wally. At least, he didn’t bring him up. He’d been at a point for a while now that he could talk about him freely without getting choked up, could even laugh along with memories of him - but Dick didn’t _talk about_ Wally. He didn’t bring him up unprompted. Hearing him speak about this so openly was almost disconcerting.

Kaldur shifted forward in his seat, elbows on his knees as he leaned toward his friend. “Dick... is everything alright?” he asked.

The concern was touching. Dick laughed lightly, shaking his head - because they had _no idea._ “Yeah... yeah, everything’s... _really_ good, actually,” he replied. “Listen, this is gonna be really hard to explain, so just... bare with me, okay?”

“Of course,” Zatanna reached down to squeeze  Artemis’ hand as she sat upright from the chaise, her girlfriend following suit. “Go ahead and say what you need to.”

True to suit, Dick had their undivided attention. M’gann and Conner turned their chairs in from the round table, Artemis and Zatanna shifted to the end of the chaise, and soon enough they were all sitting in a sort of circle, facing Dick. Their honest compassion and support was... almost a little overwhelming for Dick at first. The words left him as he looked around the room, some of his best friends ready and waiting to hear him open up. Dick closed his eyes for a moment, the sun still warm behind his eyelids. When he opened them again, the words flowed back.

“So... a couple months back, I started getting these weird... interferences, I guess you could call them. Any form of technology I had would short circuit or break down. Phones, TVs, computers, lights... at first I just ignored it, figured it was some weird coincidence, but it just kept getting worse over the Summer. The more it happened, the clearer the interferences got. My clocks would constantly change, my music was breaking up, my power blew out, and... when I was on my beat one morning the radio kept picking up a different signal. Sort of like white noise, you know? But there was something underneath it, and as it started getting stronger, I, uh... I started hearing Wally’s voice.”

“Oh, Dick...” Raquel breathed.

The pain in her voice made Dick’s throat tighten. He nodded, but didn’t speak for a moment, just taking his time to gather his thoughts again. “Yeah, it uh... it messed me up pretty bad. The power surges around me started getting worse, and at that point... I just couldn’t ignore it.” Lifting his arm, Dick brought up his Holocomp, projected from his watch. A series of windows popped up, displaying different video feeds. In one, the camera looked down on a street at night, looping footage of Dick in the middle of the street as a vortex of energy shot around him. In another, several clips of a massive power outage sweeping Bludhaven alternated from shot to shot. In the last, a basement laboratory at Star Labs was ravaged by wind and light, a swirling ring of energy bursting with sparks until finally something shot out and the footage cut out. 

“I told Bruce what was happening,” Dick continued. “After that, we called Barry and Bart in to see if we could figure out what this was. I thought, at first, that it was something using Wally’s voice to... get to me, use him against me, something like that. But we realized that whatever this was had a connection to the interference Barry and Bart had been experiencing with the Speed Force.”

“Bart was running slower than usual,” Conner commented, gradually making the connections to the out-of-place details he’d noticed before.

Dick nodded. “That was the interference. So, about two weeks ago, we met up at Star, and started running some experiments. We were trying to find out what the interference was, what it had to do with me... and we wanted to find out where it was coming out. Turns out, it found us first. Something came out...”

Dick paused there. The holographs faded, and he dropped his arm, looking each of his friends in the eyes. “I want you all to know that I would _never_ try to deceive you. Not with this. I wouldn’t tell you unless I was 100% certain that it was true. If you have any doubts, we had M’gann scan his mind, and she can vouch that it’s really him, and-”

“You know something about this?” Conner frowned as he looked to M’gann.

M’gann cringed, laying her hand on Conner’s bicep. “I promised to keep it a secret.”

“Wait, wait, back up,” Artemis shook her head, waving her hands through the air. The edges of suspicion played out on her face, her voice unsteady and hoarse as she stared at Dick - like she couldn’t bring herself to hope. “It’s... it’s really who?”

Dick smiled. It was slow to build, but when it settled on his lips, it was probably the most genuine smile they’d seen in years. Dick pushed himself to his feet, and for a moment, looked like he was about to walk to the door. However he didn’t get more than a step before a loud crash and a series of shouts from down the hall. The french doors burst open, and Wally West came stumbling in with a yelp as his ten-year-old assailant jumped on him from behind and pinned him to the ground. In that moment, every one in the room (aside from the preoccupied Amistad) was on their feet.

“ _Damian!_ ” Dick snapped, stuck somewhere between furious and exasperated.

Damian glared up at his elder brother as he pinned Wally’s arms behind his back at a painful angle. “I caught him sneaking around in the hallway!” the boy protested with a snarl. “I told you he cannot be trusted!”

Dick groaned, scrubbing his palm down his face. “He wasn’t _sneaking_ , Damian. He was _waiting_. We were trying to break it to our friends that he’s alive.” 

No change came over Damian’s face. For several moments, he refused to let up, until finally he shoved himself off of Wally’s back and stood to his full four and a half feet of height. On the floor, Wally groaned, coughing as the pressure to his chest was abated. Damian straightened out the front of his sweater, turning his glare up at his brother. Dick crossed his arms over his chest, firing the glare straight back at the boy before reaching down to help Wally get to his feet.

“Something to say?” Dick prodded for an apology.

“Don’t push it, Grayson.”

Dick didn’t. He knew better by now, and so focused his attention on getting Wally upright and making sure he was okay. Wally took his hand and let Dick haul him up, brushing himself off once he was on his feet. But then there was - nothing else. This was it. Wally was standing in front of their friends, all watching in total shock. Dick took it all in, eyes trailing over toward M’gann, who like him was more interested in watching the reactions of the others.

Beside him, Wally shifted on his feet as he ducked his head and smiled. “Uh... hey,” he said with a short wave and all the air of the awkward teenage boy they’d all known years ago.

Still, no one moved. Dick sighed. “Damian,” he said, nudging the boy’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take Amistad down to the Game Room?”

Damian scowled, glancing over at the boy with total disinterest. “Why would I do that?”

“I’ll take you on that drug bust with me next week.”

Despite the tempting offer, Damian’s scowl only deepened. They both knew he was on thin ice with Bruce after the Clavicle incident, and he hadn’t been taken on many patrols since then. No doubt the boy was starting to get restless. So, with a rough exhale through his nose, Damian turned to Amistad. “You!” he shouted, pointing at the boy. “Come with me.”

Startled at first, Amistad sat up straighter in his chair and pulled his headphones off, completely unaware of the tension in the room. He hoped down from the armchair, and soon after was following Damian out of the Sun Room. “Where are we going?”

“The Game Room. Now, don’t ask any more questions.”

“You guys have a Game Room? Awesome! What’s your name?”

Before disappearing down the hall, Damian shot one last glare at Dick from over his shoulder, suggesting that he owed him a _lot_ more than a worthwhile mission for putting up with this. Dick really shouldn’t have been as amused as he was. With that out of the way, though, he was left with only one more task; dealing with the aftermath. The room was still in suspension, like they had one breath held between them all. Dick closed the door behind them with a soft click.

Kaldur was the first to break free from the spell, shaking his head slightly as that click echoed through the entire room. “It is... it is really...”

“Yeah,” Wally breathed. “I.. I know it’s been a long time, and you all thought that I was... y’know, but I promise, I...”

No one could really find the right words, and it didn’t matter. Artemis was striding across the room before anyone could speak, coming to a slow hault in front of Wally. For a long moment, she just stared up at him. Wally stood in that golden Sun Room, real and _there_ and entirely impossible, as the evening finally dipped down below the horizon. Artemis gritted her teeth, lifting her fist like she wanted to punch him in the arm, but the tears won out. Her fist came down with nothing more than a light nudge on his bicep, and with a sob she tried to swallow down, she threw her arms around her best friend. She held onto him like the last rays of sunlight would take him with them as they sank behind the trees. Wally’s shoulder sagged as he held her back.

It was a domino effect. Once the reality that Wally was back hit, it hit hard. They’d all seen their fair share of impossible things in life, and in that way it made this somewhat easier to take in stride, but that didn’t make it any less an emotional reunion. As soon as Artemis hugged Wally, Zatanna was rushing across the room and hugging him too. They’d barely stepped back before Raquel was kissing his cheeks and holding him tight, laughing as she cussed him out for making her eyeliner run. Kaldur stepped in then. Steady as he was, there were tears in his eyes and a smile on his face as he clasped his hands on Wally’s shoulders, looking him over and shaking his head in disbelief before pulling him into a strong embrace. Not as strong, however, as Conner as he squeezed Wally hard enough to make the red head cough.

“Air, Supey. Need it,” Wally laughed as Conner finally eased up.

With the others crowded around Wally, Dick let them have this moment, watching from off to the side. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room, and he was no exception. M’gann moved in to stand at his side with a light nudge of her hip and a smile as she wrapped her arm around his back. Dick grinned back at her. “I think we’re gonna need another bottle of wine.”

They ended up scattered around the couches with the windows open and the fireplace burning. The night was cool, and the breezes played lightly in the lace curtains. Zatanna lit the fire, and the room was bathed in warmth and flickering light. Despite the fact that there were more than enough chairs in the room, they all crowded together by the fire. Wally sat on the couch with Artemis and Kaldur, with Dick sitting on a pillow on the floor, leaning back against Wally’s legs. Zatanna sat on the opposite sofa, the smaller loveseat, with M’gann. Conner sat on the floor across from Dick, against the edge of the sofa, while Raquel lounged on the rug by the fire. The only missing piece for the night was Barbara, but Dick explained that she was running intelligence for Bruce, and already knew about Wally. She’d wanted the rest of them to have this night - though she fully expected there to be some Prosecco left for her. It was so reminiscent of their younger years, nights spent in the Cave at Mount Justice, before the world got too complicated and messy - back when they first learned to be friends before teammates. Only now, of course, with the added benefit of alcohol (or at least alcohol that they didn’t have to hide).

“I’m sorry for keeping you guys in the dark,” Dick said once Alfred had brought another bottle, received by a round of thanks. He poured out a glass and passed it up to Wally before serving himself. “It’s been two weeks since he’s been back.”

Wally took the glass, smoothing his hand over Dick’s shoulder in silent thanks as he took a sip. “No, that’s on me,” he insisted. “Just... wanted some time to settle in, y’know?”

“Wally,” Zatanna had to pause there, like she still couldn’t quite wrap her head around speaking to him again, “we understand. This is crazy. I can’t imagine what it’s been like.”

Wally shrunk back a bit a that, the “what it’s been like” going unsaid as he shifted his focus down to his glass and took another sip. “Hey, the real MVP here is M’gann,” he redirected the conversation with a sly grin. “I’m shocked you kept quiet for this long.”

M’gann sank back against the sofa cushion. “It was horrible!” she lamented with a knowing look to Wally - just a second, but it was enough. She threw on her languishing act again. “I was so afraid I’d crack, or I’d accidentally let it slip to the Team through the Psychic Link.”

“That’s why you’ve been acting so strange,” Conner chuckled as he tilted his head to look back at her. “I thought you were mad at me.”

M’gann pet his hair. “Aw.... I _was_ mad at you, but that’s because you left the laundry wet in the washer.”

A round of laughter filled the room, in spite of Conner’s indignant scowl. As it faded off, the sweet smoke from the fire drifted to the window on a crisp autumn breeze. Emotions were high, but this was so _easy._ It almost felt like it shouldn’t be so simple. They shouldn’t be able to just sit in a circle and drink wine and talk like two years hadn’t passed and Wally hadn’t spent them as a memory. But it was. Dick found himself caught of guard every once in a while by the ease of it all. Pressure would build behind his eyes, and he’d have to pretend to yawn into his sleeve just to keep from tearing up. More than once, he’d caught the others doing the same.

“So,” Kaldur set his glass on the table as he looked back at Wally, “how did your family react?”

Wally tensed. It was only a tightening in his shoulders, but it was noticeable enough. He pursed his lips, scrubbing his hand over the back of his neck. “Well, Barry and Bart were there when I...” he inhaled, struggling to grasp the right word, “escaped. Barry told Aunt Iris last week, but... my folks don’t actually know yet.”

The admission took the group by surprise. Raquel’s brows arched. “Wally, they’re your _parents_.”

Wally only nodded. He had to bite back the gut response, snapping and telling her that he _knew that_. She meant well, and she was right. He released a long sigh that rattled up from his lungs. “I know,” he said evenly. “It’s just... it’s harder. We’re gonna tell them by next week, head out to Keystone in person and all that.” Stretching his arms up, Wally crossed them behind his head and nudged Dick lightly with his knee. “At least I know they can’t react any worse than _he_ did.”

That certainly piqued interest. Kaldur’s gaze flitted down to Dick. “Why? How did you react?”

Dick floundered at being put on the spot. “I... I, uh...”

“He tasered me.”

“Wally!”

Raquel had, tragically, been mid-sip when Wally exposed Dick and ended up with Prosecco up her nose. She sat upright, coughing and sniffing as her cruel friends and former teammates laughed at her suffering. M’gann was the only one with enough mercy to fill and empty glass with a bit of ice water from the bucket and float it her way. Raquel took it, hacking out her thanks as even she laughed, before taking a few gulps. “You seriously tasered him?” she asked Dick once she’d recovered.

“I panicked, alright?” Dick protested, throwing his hands up in surrender. “How would _you_ react if an unknown streak of light broke free from an incorporeal dimension, raced around the room, and stopped in front of you with your dead boyfriend’s face? Of course I tasered him.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I barely remember any of it,” Wally chuckled.

Conner leaned forward, glass set on the floor as he rested his forearms on his knees. “What _do_ you remember?”

For a moment, Wally seemed to have every intention of answering. He opened his mouth to explain, but just... stopped. It wasn’t like he froze up. He didn’t lose himself in half-formed memories, spiraling downward into a maelstrom of trauma until he lost all sense of the present. He just stopped. Just tensed his jaw and looked down, struggling to form enough coherencey without loosing himself to that tide lapping at his heels - the storm wasn’t far off shore in his mind.

That troubled pause was enough to get Dick on his feet. “Anyone hungry?” he asked, voice on edge.

Wally’s attention snapped back to him instantly. “No- Dick, it’s fine,” he said.

Evidently, Dick wasn’t the only one who noticed Wally’s brief lapse. Conner was quick to retract his question. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”

“No, I mean it, it’s fine,” Wally reassured him. “It’s just... hard to explain.” He paused again, without the far-off frown, swirling the sparkling wine in his glass and watching the bubbles rise to the surface. “You guys remember the Train-For-Failure exercise?” The instantaneous silence in the room suggested that they did. “It’s kind of like that. Like how we thought the beam teleported victims somewhere else, but when we were hit, we were put in a coma. I wasn’t vaporized, I was just... put somewhere else.” Wally’s glass stilled in his hands, the glassy surface of his wine foaming up with a light bubbling sound. “I’ll be honest here... I don’t think I’m ready to talk about the ‘somewhere else’. Just think of it like a coma. I think was aware of some things without knowing where I was. I just... guess I started reaching out to Dick somehow.”

Standing over the couch, Dick looked down at Wally and softened at the tenderness in his voice. He lowered himself down to sit on the armrest, hand ghosting over the nape of Wally’s neck before settling on his shoulder with a light squeeze. It was a quite moment that none of them dared interrupt. Seeing the two of them together again... it brought another level of emotion and reality to this whole... whatever it was. Definitions were still hard to grasp at.

Wally shifted, leaning back against Dick with a leisurely slouched. “None of that matters now, anyway,” he said. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere.”

“You’d better not,” Artemis mock threatened him from the other end of the couch. “Now that I know where you’ve been hiding the past two years, I’ll crawl into the Speed Force and drag your ass out myself if I have to.”

“Yeah?” Wally swiped the pillow Dick had been sitting on from off the floor and tossed it at her face. “Maybe I was hiding from you.”

Artemis caught the pillow with ease, tossing it straight back at Wally. Lightning fast reflexes or not, he didn’t react fast enough to stop the decorative pillow from smacking him in the face.

“Alright,” M’gann shook her head as she telekinetically lifted the pillow out of their reach before they could wage a pillow war with poor Kaldur caught in the middle. “It is _way_ too early to be joking about this.”

Wally shot her a grin. “Megalicious, I’m pretty sure I’ve earned the right to joke about it. Better than the alternative.”

M’gann hesitated, the pillow suspended in mid-air as she considered Wally’s words. Then, with glowing green eyes and a mischievous grin, she sent the pillow flying threw the air at Wally’s face once again. Dick only stopped laughing long enough to take the pillow and toss it onto the armchair before anyone could escalate.

“Guys, c’mon, Alfred’ll kill me if we ruin anything in here,” he said.

Conner shrugged. “What’s he gonna do? We’ve been banned from the Manor a dozen times already.”

The fire died down to embers. They finished three bottles of wine between them. The night was dream-like, passing with laughter and poorly masked tears. It was the oddest thing - they would get caught up in stories, whether they were from the past two years, or just memories beyond that, and every once in a while it was easy to forget that Wally had been dead. That anything had ever been different than this cozy room on an autumn night, with the eight of them huddled together, was inconceivable. Then, someone’s gaze would linger on Wally, as if seeing him again for the first time, and the realization would swing back again. They were on a pendulum, steady and consistent, but always gravitating back toward the fact that their friend was alive. Undoing death would take time.

The night couldn’t last forever, though. Raquel was the first to proclaim the hour as too late, picking herself up off the floor. Everyone followed suit. No one really wanted to go. Silly as it seemed, it felt a little too much like the night would end, and Wally would disappear again. They’d all wake up in the morning, and realize that the evening had been dream-like for a reason. Wally would be a memory again, and the next time they saw Dick they’d have the smother down the guilt for imagining him in a happier life. However, with the reassurance that this was real, they headed down to the Zetatube in the Cave. One stop at the Game Room found Amistad fast asleep in one of the recliners while Damian had taken upon himself to change the TV to a documentary on Ghengis Khan. Conner carried Amistad down to the Batcave, because the boy was too big now for Raquel to carry - something that Wally commented on with quiet wonder as they headed down. The kid probably barely remembered him. Raquel had commented, with a tearful smile, that he definitely did.

The goodbyes were hard, but with the reassurance that they weren’t forever, they were possible. Again, Dick allowed the rest of the friends to have Wally, standing off to the side all too happy to watch the interactions. One by one, they made their way through the Zetatube. It was as Dick was watching Kaldur and Wally hug with promises to meet up again soon, that his attention was pulled away by the elbow resting casually against his shoulder. He looked down to find Artemis giving him a pointed look that bordered interrogation.

“I’m just gonna point out the Elephant in the Room here,” she said as she dropped her elbow and stood in front of Dick. With a quirked brow, she threaded her index finger underneath the chain hanging from Dick’s neck, pulling out the gold ring hanging from the end.

Dick flinched, but didn’t make any move to free himself. “We’ve talked about it,” he insisted. “Just... not in so many words.”

“So, you haven’t talked about it at all,” Artemis replied.

Finally removing her hold on the chain, Dick held the ring between his fingers, rolling it back and forth in nervous habit. “There’s too much going on, Artemis. We both know it’s not the right time to talk about it. We’ve... addressed it, the fact that I found it at least, it’s just-”

Artemis lifted her palms. “Hey,” she shook her head, “I’m not in any position to tell you how to deal with this. But Dick...” her gaze drifted back toward Wally as the lights of the Zetatube carried Kaldur’s sihlouette away, “you have to _deal_ with it eventually.”

Dick shifted on his feet. “I know.”

“And I know you know,” she fired back. Silent for a moment, she soon after smiled and wrapped her arms around him. Dick hugged her back with a gentle squeeze before she was stepping away, giving him one last look, and heading toward the Zetatube, where Zatanna was struggling not to cry all over again as she hugged Wally goodbye for the night. Artemis came up beside her, slipping an arm around her waist and kissing her cheek just to make sure she was okay. Now came her turn. They were the last ones to leave. Artemis slid away from her girlfriend, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared up at Wally - who mirrored her stance just to get a rise out of her. The two engaged in a staring contest before finally Artemis huffed and gave in, hugging Wally with her face buried in his shoulder. “Fuck you, Baywatch.”

“Yeah, I know, I’m the worst,” Wally mocked as they pulled back. “Mind keeping this quiet for now, though? I don’t want it getting out too soon. Haven’t seen Roy yet either.”

Artemis nodded. “Yeah, of course. But clone boy’s going by Will now, just so you know.”

“Is he?” Wally chuckled. “Looks like I’ve got more catching up to do than I thought.”

“You have _no_ idea,” Artemis smiled. Her eyes threatened to water again, so before a tear could fall, she hugged Wally one more time, and quickly turned toward the Zetatube. She took Zatanna’s hand, the two of them disappearing as they walked into the swirling lights. There were no other goodbyes. There didn’t need to be tonight.

The lights faded, and as they did, Dick and Wally were left in the echoing silence and dim light of the Batcave. Dick fought down a yawn, his body sorely reminding him that he was running on less than ideal sleep after late nights of patrol. He turned to Wally. He’d expected a grin, a kiss, _something_ , but found that Wally was still staring at the Zetatube with a blank expression. Dick frowned, laying his hand on Wally’s shoulder with a light shake. “You okay?”

Wally blinked, forcing himself from his daze. “Yeah, I’m perfect,” he said, at last turning to Dick with a tired smile. “That went really well.”

That smile alone was enough to chase any doubt from him. Dick smiled back. “It did,” he agreed. A heavy silence fell over them. Dick shifted his hand from Wally’s shoulder to the dip between his shoulder blades, guiding him in for a simple kiss. “It’s been a long night,” he murmured when he pulled away. “You should get some sleep.”

Wally, for just a moment, tried to follow the kiss as Dick broke apart, lips trailing after his, craving something more concrete than this tentative affection. Dick didn’t need to hear the protest from Wally’s mouth to feel it there. He watched as Wally’s eyes opened again slowly, the brilliant emeralds dulled by exhaustion. “Yeah...” Wally muttered. “Probably best.”

Neither of them acknowledged the fact that they’d be sleeping in different bedrooms as they headed back up to the Manor.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	2. Familiar Sins Come Crashing In

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to say this time around besides, for whatever reason, I always find writing the second chapter of any fic the hardest. Why? No clue. But I kicked its ass this time.

Wally couldn’t really call it a nightmare. A nightmare, by definition, was a bad dream – isolated and disagreeable imagery with little emotional response from the dreamer. Nightmares typically happened in the cycle of REM sleep, and even those that caused anxiety and insomnia could usually be chalked up to daytime stress or fever. Wally knew that. He could be scientific about it, compartmentalize it all until the facts were all that remained. He usually took comfort in that.

Eyes flying open with a gasp dragging like fractured ice from his throat, Wally jolted, and - no, there wasn’t much comfort in the fact that it wasn’t technically a nightmare. There was no comfort at all. The imagery wasn’t isolated. It was repetitive, a plane of nothing and everything at the same time, of swirling light and sensationless existence. It wasn’t just disagreeable, it was fucking horrifying, so he was pretty sure he could also check “little emotional response” right off that light. He’d never even made it to REM. To be honest, he’d never fallen asleep at all.

And, to add insult to injury, it wasn’t even night. The semantics of having a nightmare in the middle of the afternoon weren’t all that interesting to him at the moment. Staring up at the sun-baked ceiling and the aged cracks of the crown molding, Wally gradually felt his heart rate slow down to a dull thud in his chest. That feeling of panic and isolation dissipated slowly, until there was nothing left but a quiet unease. With a deep sigh, Wally let his head fall to the side, where it was resting on the back of the chaise, to stare at the Grandfather clock standing against the far wall. The elegant hands were just ticking past 5pm. It’d only been twenty minutes from the last time he’d checked. Half an hour since the time before that. Wally groaned, scrubbing his palm down his face.

The book he’d been reading was open, face down on his chest. It was some journalistic account of the Reach Invasion, one of a dozen books that’d come out since then. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t the best reading material for a lazy afternoon nap, but in his defense he hadn’t exactly planned on dozing off. For the past three weeks since he’d returned from the prison of the Speed Force, whatever incorporeal dimension he’d been trapped in for two years, he’d been trying to catch up on what he’d missed out on. Pretty much anything to occupy his time at this point.

Wally stretched his arms over his head with a long yawn, feeling the air deep in his muscles as he shook off the last dregs of the memory. He swung picked up his book, swung his legs over the side of the chaise, and found himself for a moment, just letting his gaze sweep over the empty Sun Room. Just days ago this room had been filled with his friends. It maybe should have been a little depressing to see it so barren now, but the memory of that night alone had been enough to keep sweet company that afternoon. He pretty much had the run of the Manor, with everyone else out enjoying the big wide world, and he’d been drawn back here feeling just a little less lonely. That, of course, and the fact that as comfortable in the Manor as he was with his years spent roaming the place with Dick, he still had that lingering childish fear that he was going to turn a wrong corner and end up falling some 19th century trap door.

Then again, maybe he wasn’t as alone as he thought. Drawing himself out of his reverie, Wally shifted to get off the chaise, only to fall right back down with a startled yelp when he noticed the boy glaring at him from the doorway of the room. Damian stood leaning in the threshold, arms crossed over his chest, backpack still slung over his shoulder and Gotham Academy uniform still pristine. The amount of hatred and contempt that kid could fit into one glare was honestly impressive for his size.

Wally had few complaints with living at the Manor for the past few weeks, but if he had to name one...

Pushing his hair back out of his face, Wally regained his bearings and stood up. “Hey, Damian.”

“West.”

And that was about as good as he was going to get. Wally tucked his book under his arm, debating for a moment whether or not Damian would break his legs if he tried to step past him out of the room. His gut instinct was telling him Yes. “So,” Wally drew out the word as an awkward tension radiated between them. “Done school for the day, huh?”

Damian seemed to have no intention of answering.

“Don’t you have any homework?”

Hell, the kid didn’t even make any indication that he’d heard what Wally’d said.

“Maybe some training to get to?”

This was starting to get old.

Damian snarled, finally annoyed enough to dean Wally deserving of a terse response. “Small talk will get you nowhere, West.”

Wally rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, shrugging as he let it fall to the side. “Can’t blame a guy for trying,” he replied with a long pause. “Or at least I hope you can’t.”

The youngest Wayne didn’t seem to find it funny. Thankfully, however, Wally’s saving grace came in the form of Tim tossing a waded piece of paper at Damian from down the hall as he approached. Damian caught it an inch from his face, turning the focus of his glare to his adoptive brother. Laptop back strung over his shoulder, Tim approached in a similar uniform to Damian’s, with the tie removed and the blazer dangling haphazardly out of his bag.

“Damian, go be broody somewhere else,” Tim said as he stopped in the doorway.

Damian clenched his fist around the paper ball, crunching it down in his hand and stuffing it into his pocket. “Mind your own business, Drake.”

Tim rolled his eyes. “Right, because your business is stalking Wally every waking minute,” he scoffed. Damian growled under his breath, pushing upright off the threshold of the doorway. Before he could lay into the older boy, however, Tim turned away from him entirely - which, of course, only infuriated the kid more, but that seemed to be what Tim was going for. Tim smiled over at Wally, ignoring his brother entirely. “Dick’s on his way over,” he said. “He texted me ten minutes ago, so he should be here soon. Alfred’s whipping up something to eat if you’re hungry.”

“Always,” Wally grinned. “Thanks Tim, I’ll head over.” With that, he began to inch his way toward the door. “Well, great talkin’ to ya kid, but I’ve gotta run...” Wally trailed off as he slid past Damian in the doorway, half anticipating the boy jumping down his throat. It looked, for a moment, like he might, but Tim was prodding him in the opposite direction down the hall before he could make a move. Wally sagged in relief once Damian and Tim had rounded the corner.

Needless to say, Damian hadn’t quite warmed up to him yet.

Putting the encounter behind him, Wally headed toward the kitchen. That was the one room he’d never had trouble finding. It’d been one of the first places in the Manor he’d memorized, right up there with the Game Room, and Dick’s bedroom. Even if he didn’t know the exact path to take down the labyrinth of corridors within Wayne Manor, it wasn’t exactly difficult to find - he could just as easily follow the scent of fresh cooked food. When he entered the kitchen, Alfred was just setting out a plate of what looked like puff pastry triangles stuffed with ground beef, spinach, and ricotta. Wally barely had the self control not to grab a handful while they were still steaming hot as he sat down at the island counter.

Alfred glanced over at him as he wiped his hands on a dishtowel, seemingly thankful for Wally’s restraint. “How are we feeling this afternoon, sir?”

“Better every day,” Wally smiled as he settled into his chair. There was a moment of silence, with Wally not wanting to ask if he could devour half the plate, and Alfred clearly knowing that was exactly what he wanted to do, before the old Butler sighed and just nudged the plate toward him. Wally shot him a thankful grin, before popping one of the pastries into his mouth - and, in spite of his earlier judgment, immediately regretting it when he found it was too hot. He covered his mouth with one hand, trying to wait until it cooled down a bit to swallow while he tossed it back and forth on his tongue.

Alfred raised a brow as he poured a glass of ice water and passed it over to the struggling young man. “Evidently.”

When at last Wally could swallow without burning his esophagus, he coughed a few times and smiled in thanks once again. He took a long swing, sighing in relief as he set the glass down again. As he did, he noticed Alfred glancing down at the cover of the book he’d set next to him on the counter.

“Just so you are aware,” Alfred commented as he slipped on an oven-mit, “there are a great many books in the Manor library. Ones with, perhaps, less unsettling topics. Should you feel the urge to occupy your time with more reading.” As the older man spoke, he opened the oven door and slid a tray of more pasties out, setting it down to cool on the stove top.

Wally ducked his head a bit, shifting the book off the table and next to him on the chair. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Alfred didn’t push the topic. He wasn’t the type. In any case, he wouldn’t have gotten the chance too. Wally had just taken a bite out of another pastry (letting it cool down like a civilized person this time) when Dick walked through the kitchen door. He was still in his Police uniform, the light blue button down under a kevlar vest and a bomber jacket - Wally nearly choked on the pastry when he saw him, banging his fist against his chest a few times. Shit. That looked - wow. It was only occurring to Wally now that he’d never actually seen Dick in his uniform. Usually he’d be in civvies when he came to the Manor after work, or he’d be in his Nightwing suit coming back from Patrol. This was... yeah. Wow.

Wally had just recovered from his coughing fit when Alfred took his glass, refilled it, and pushed it back. He wheezed out a thanks, taking a few sips before finally looking back at Dick.

“You okay there?” Dick asked, completely oblivious to Wally’s reaction.

“Yeah,” Wally coughed a few more times to get it out of his system. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He took another swing of his water, looking back at Dick, and - yeah, fuck it, he couldn’t help himself. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure, Officer?” he grinned. “Come to take me in?”

At last, Dick caught on, shaking his head as he reached into an inner pocket of his jacket. “No such luck,” he fired back. “I’ve got something a lot less fun.” Pulling out a thick envelope, Dick slid it across the counter to Wally before swiping one of the pastries off the plate. Wally took the envelope with a critical raise of his brow, turning it over in his hands a few times before opening the seal. Dick caught his questioning look with a smirk. “Those are the papers that’ll bring you back to life, Wally West.”

More than a little curious now, Wally slipped the thick stack of folded papers from of the enveloped and smoothed them out on the table. Sure enough, they all seemed to be legal documents relating to getting his ID back, changing his status from Deceased to Missing, and then Missing to no status at all. Everything from his drivers license to his bank account all seemed to be shoved into that envelope. “Man...” he breathed as he looked up at Dick. “I don’t even know where to begin.”

A deep baritone answered from the far end of the kitchen before Dick had the chance to. “All you need to do is fill out the information you know, and sign where needed. I will be taking care of the rest,” Bruce said as he entered the room.

“We don’t want to draw a lot of attention with this,” Dick chimed in. “The last thing we need is the media getting a hold of this story because you’re tied to me, and then getting too nosy. Everything’s going to be filed in strict secret. So, the story is that you went missing during the Invasion and you were presumed dead. Up until now, because of...” Dick trailed off there. Wally didn’t need to ask to know where his mind went. “Because of the nature of your ‘death’, the story was that witnesses reported seeing you get hit by one of the Reach’s drones. That’s why there was no body. Thankfully though,” he continued, forcing on a more chipper tone, “that left some room for error for us to work with. Now, you weren’t killed you were just-”

“Transported,” Wally finished the sentence once he’d connected the dots.

Dick smiled back at him. “Your comparison to the Train For Failure mission the other night gave me the idea.” From the corner of his eyes, Wally watched as Bruce straightened his shoulders just slightly at the mention of that disaster. Dick must have caught on as well, because he quickly veered the focus back to the matter at hand. “So, you were transported somewhere else during the Invasion, and the next thing you new, you woke up in a hospital in Alaska two years later. Once you regained your memory, you returned to the lower 48, and that’s when we found you.”

Wally nodded, glancing between Dick and the paper work skeptically. “I don’t know... it’s kinda vague. Is anyone really gonna believe that?”

“The more detailed you make a lie, the less believable it becomes. More opportunities for slip-ups present themselves to anyone prodding too much,” Bruce commented. “Besides, it hasn’t been uncommon in the past several years for victims of the Invasion to turn up when they’d been thought missing or otherwise. We’ve fabricated medical documents from a remote hospital in Nome. It’s all the detail we need.”

“Makes sense...” Wally conceded as he looked back down at the paper work. “Alright, I just sign on the dotted line and get my life back?”

“That’s the idea,” said Dick.

Stretching his arms out in front of him, Wally cracked his knuckles. “Let’s get at it, then.”

“Here,” Dick patted at the pockets of his jacket. “I think I’ve got a pen in here somewhere.” As he reached into the side pocket, Dick pulled out a thin black pen, but with it tumbled out a little pink tube. It dropped onto the counter, rolling across the marble.

Wally plucked it from the table, turning it over to find the familiar label of the Bubblegum flavoured lip balm. It was such a silly little thing, but nonetheless it had his heart skipping, fond warmth flooding his chest as he grinned up at Dick. “Once a Bubblegum Bitch, always a Bubblegum bitch, huh?” 

Alfred and Bruce only frowned in confusion, but the comment had Dick snorting in poorly contained laughter as he swiped the lip balm back. “I saw it at the convenience store by my place last month,” he retorted as he pointedly shoved it back in his pocket. “Still tastes the same, too.”

“I’ll have to taste it myself to believe it.”

Wally had said it before he really thought it through. The light banter and flirting was just so natural, it came to him as second nature. Before he could debate whether it’d been too much too soon, though, Dick was laughing. Wally couldn’t help but laugh as well, half in embarrassment, and to be honest half in relief that they still _had_ this. Dick hadn’t exactly been distant since he’d come back, that wasn’t the right word. He stayed at the Manor when he could, but otherwise spent a few nights out of the week at this apartment in Bludhaven. It was all caught up between patrol and work and the few hours of sleep Dick caught each night. Even when he did stay overnight at the Manor, Dick stayed in his old bedroom, and Wally was set up in a guest room down the hall. They were stuck in a strange limbo, and Wally didn’t want to push. Even so... he’d needed this.

Finally taking the pen from Dick, Wally got started on his forms. He just wanted to move on with his life. He’d never be able to get those two years back, but he couldn’t spend the rest of his days dwelling on that. He had a life now, he was _alive._ Time to move on. He’d just been moving onto the second page when his attention inevitably drifted, rising up from the paper to catch sight of Dick as he slipped out of his bomber jacket helped himself to the pastries Alfred was setting out. He tapped the pen against the counter, working up the nerve to speak.

“Dick,” Wally called his attention just as Tim and Damian joined them in the kitchen. “I’ve been thinking... maybe, if you’re not busy tonight, we could go out and get dinner together? Maybe Red Lobster or something? Y’know... those cheddar bay biscuits - I mean, if you still like those, I just thought-”

“I know,” Dick smiled, the memory of their disaster of a first date flashing in his eyes. However, the smile was short lived, fading into a light grimace as he looked away. “I’m sorry though, I can’t tonight. I’ve gotta head back to my place before Patrol, and you shouldn’t spend too much time in public until we get this all sorted out.”

Wally deflated, quick to brush it off. “Yeah, yeah of course, I understand.” He voice sounded hollow even to him.

Dick pursed his lips. That was all it used to take, one glance, one little shift of his expression, and Wally used to be able to tell exactly what was on his mind. Now, though... he just couldn’t read Dick anymore. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t hurt. Lately he got the feeling that Dick was guarding himself, whether he realised he was doing it or not.

Dick looked at him like he was temporary.

Crossing back over to him, the vigilante in question slipped something out of his pocket. Wally forced those thoughts from his mind as Dick spoke. “I know you feel couped up in here, but it isn’t for much longer.”

Wally gestured to the wide expanse of the kitchen, only a fraction of the Manor. “It’s pretty hard to feel couped up in this place, it’s fine.”

“ _But_ ,” Dick continued with a subdued laugh as he sat a thin black phone on the counter and pushed it toward Wally, “I figured this’ll help. It’s all set up.”

Picking up the phone, Wally turned it over in his hand. “Dick, you shouldn’t have paid-”

“I didn’t,” Dick shrugged, jerking his thumb toward Bruce. “He did.”

Bruce only grunted from where he leaned against the counter.

Dropping his head, Wally chuckled and finally pocketed the phone. “Thank you.”

With that business taken care of for the time being, Bruce took control of the room, standing upright and rigid as he spoke to Tim and Damian. “You two, finish your school work and get suited up. Tim, you’re on assignment with the Team tonight. Damian, you’re tagging along with Dick. Be ready in two hours.” With that dismissal, Bruce left the kitchen, Damian and Tim following close behind.

“I’ve gotta head out too,” Dick said as he gathered his jacket again. “We’re still good to Zeta to Keystone tomorrow?”

At the mention of the trip, short as it was, Wally felt his stomach tighten. “Still good,” he forced out.

Dick nodded, smoothing his hand across Wally’s shoulder and pressing a quick kiss to his lips. Wally was surprised to find himself a little disappointed that it didn’t taste like artificial candy favouring. He barely had time to respond before Dick was out the door, and suddenly he was left in the kitchen. Just him, Alfred, and a half-full plate of stuffed pastries and crumbs.

Wally thanked Alfred for the food, slipped his paperwork into the cover of his book, and took his leave, finding himself alone in the Manor once again. He told himself he didn’t mind and left it at that. Looking for a bit of a change in scenery, Wally wondered through the halls, taking the familiar corridors until he made it to the library. Well, Alfred _had_ suggested he switch up his reading material. Tossing his book onto a table in the centre of the room with the paperwork along with it, Wally made a beeline over to a long couch nestled in the corner and flopped down. The library itself was impressive, not exactly the size you’d find at a university, but the collection spanned from wall to wall, floor to ceiling in aged oak bookshelves. The room itself was dark, with wood floors and smaller windows than you’d find in the Sun Room, but it was cool and quiet and it’d do just find for killing a bit of time.

As he stretched out across the couch, legs dangling over one arm rest and his head laying on the other, Wally felt a foreign object in his back pocket and remembered the cell phone again. He grunted as he shifted onto his side just enough to worm his hand back and slip it out, turning it over in his hands once again. It was similar to the one he had... Pre-Invasion, Pre-Death, Pre-Sucked-Into-A-Hell-Dimension, or whatever they were calling it. Point was, it was familiar enough that he could open it and navigate his way just fine, but the design was just a little different - a little sleeker, the interface just slightly off. It was a newer design, he could tell that much, but it wasn’t so new that the technology astounded him. Like everything else he’d been experiencing since his return it was just... different.

So, Wally opened the phone. He started googling major events in the past two years and just allowed himself to slowly fall down that rabbit whole. It went from major incidents with known Supervillains, to Justice League victories, to new emerging Heroes, and all the way down to top songs and celebrity gossip. Anything he could get his hands on really. He was a notoriously fast reader, especially when he was motivated, and the mind numbing absorption of information was, well... just that. Mind numbing. He’d never get those two years back. This wasn’t about that. This was about understanding the world he was in _now_ better.

Inevitably, he started checking in on his friends. Most of them had their social media accounts locked, and he couldn’t exactly remake his own accounts just yet, but he could see a few pictures and posts here and there. The lack of info there didn’t bother him, after all they knew he was alive now and he could catch up with them any time he wanted. From there, he began looking up high school friends, people he’d known in University, old roommates. Some of them were married, some buying houses, some had kids - Elijah, he found a little guilty pleasure in knowing, got booted from Stanford for cheating on his final Exams. In any case, life continued.

That thought, of course, drew his curiosity elsewhere. He looked up his Mom. She was going by her maiden name again, Mary Brady, and her social accounts were just any other middle-aged mother’s. Her wall was full of inspirational quotes, news articles, and pictures of her with friends and family. She looked _good_ , he was happy to find. Healthy, happy, even dating someone new. His parents had been in the middle of their divorce when he’d disappeared, he really shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was to find that his mother had already moved on.

Scrolling down her feed (unblocked, because she probably didn’t know that was an option), he came across a post that made his blood run cold. It was a picture taken of a gravestone, reading _“Wallace Rudolph West. November 11 1994 - June 20 2016”_. Fresh bouquets of flowers covered the bottom of the stone and the grass surrounding it, to the point that it was almost difficult to read. The caption above the picture read _“No Mother should ever have to bury her Son. I miss you more with each passing day. You are, and forever will be, my baby boy.”_

Wally had to shut the screen off after that. He dropped the phone at his side, pinching the bridge of his nose to keep from tearing up. Dick had told him that night on the rooftop, chocking back tears, that he’d had a grave. He’d listed the details of Wally death, trying to make him see just how real it had been. Wally knew all this, and he’d understood it, but seeing his own grave, and the evidence of his mother’s grief.... it just really drove it home. Pushing himself upright on the couch, Wally opened his eyes again and stared down at the phone. He wasn’t even sure he _wanted_ to look up his Dad...

His eyes shot up to the book case along the far wall. One book stood out to him, a well memorize anthology of chiropterology with a dull grey cover. Without thinking much of it, he stuffed the phone into his back pocket and crossed the room, pulling the book back off the shelf. A mechanical whir sounded form deep within the wall. Within seconds, he was granted access, and the bookcase sank back and shifted to the side to reveal a service elevator. Wally rode it down through the rugged stone foundations beneath Wayne Manor until he’d finally reached the bottom - the Batcave. True to its name, as soon as he stepped out, a flutter of wings echoed off the stalactite ceiling.

Directly across the cave from where he stood was a massive circle cut out of the rock, carving into a cone shape that cut off at a metal wall of sliding shutters. It looked almost like the eye of a camera, waiting to open up and wink back at him. Wally approached the Zetatube slowly, his hand brushing over the control panel as he stopped in front of it. He could just... go. Just walk by his childhood house to see if either of his parents still lived there. Peek through the window and disappear before either of them thought he was more than just an apparition. He knew he was going tomorrow with Dick to let the truth out. Everything had already been set up with Barry - he just didn’t feel _ready_. Maybe if he eased himself into this, just _saw_ them first, he’d be more prepared.

_Recognized: Kid Flash. B03_

At the same time, an anxiety he couldn’t understand sank its icy talons into his chest. The portal opened up in a chaotic realm of swirling light. He didn’t understand. He’d done this a thousand times before, the transportation was as familiar as riding a bike, why was he -

The shutters widened, beckoning him to walk forward. Wally froze as he stared into the _chaotic realm of swirling light._

No...

 _Error: Kid Flash Status: Deceased. Authorization Denied_.

Wally stumbled back as the portal slammed shut. He fell backwards, barely managing to catch himself as he heaved for breath. It was only by some miracle that he didn’t throw up. Sweat broke out on his forehead and down his back as he fought to breathe evenly. He’d made the connection too late. What once had been a mode of transportation he’d used so casually was a painful reminder of that lonely plane of existence he’d barely been conscious enough to scream himself out of.

And tomorrow he was supposed to walk straight into it.

“You!” A ferocious young voice roared at him from across the Cave. Wally looked up just as Damian rushed toward him in full Robin gear, katana drawn. He stopped with the blade only inches from his throat, snarling down at Wally on the ground. “Where do you think you’re going?!”

Wally groaned, trying to pick himself up but finding the blade pushed just a little too close to his jugular. “I wasn’t- I’m not going anywhere, kid, I was just-”

“What are you doing down here?!” Damian’s knuckles tightened around the hilt of the sword. “Tell me!”

“Damian!” Two voices cut through the cave at once, distinct but powerful in their own right. Dick leaped over the guard rail from the catwalk surrounding the cave from above, leaning in a crouch before running forward and shoving himself between Damian and Wally. Bruce took his time, Batman in all his glory, as he walked down the metal stairs into the center of the Cave.

With one gloved hand on Wally’s back, Dick pushed Damian back, holding out his hand to keep the boy at bay. “Damian, for Christ’s sake, what is with you?” Dick hissed, eyes narrow beneath his domino mask. “Leave him alone!”

“Stand down,” Bruce ordered. He didn’t have to raise his voice for it to echo off the walls, resounding through the floor as he stopped over his youngest son.

Damian hesitated for a moment before shifting out of his fighting stands and sheathing his sword. “But Father, he-”

“You overreacted,” Bruce cut the boy off with a stern growl. “You behaved impulsively, and without grounds for your anger. Wally is a guest here, and a trusted former vigilante. I have half a mind to bench you for another _month-”_

“Bruce, wait,” Dick said as he helped Wally to his feet. “Let me run him tonight.”

Bruce turned his glare up toward Dick from beneath the cowl. “Damian needs to learn that there are consequences to his actions.”

“I know,” Dick replied impatiently. “Just let me deal with it this time, alright?”

Glancing between Dick and Damian, who stood glaring at the ground with his fists clenched at his sides, Bruce deliberated a moment before nodding to his eldest. He turned on his heel, cap billowing around him with the moment, as he cross the cave to the Batmobile. With a rev of the engine, he’d taken off down the long tunnel toward the surface. The rumbling of the engine faded as the car disappeared. Dick sighed, turning toward the troubled young hero. “Go wait by bikes, Dami.”

Damian’s viscious glare snapped up to him. “You’re not my _handler_ , Grayson. You don’t tell me what to do.”

Dick rolled his eyes in exasperation. “What, do you want to talk then?”

Huffing in annoyance, Damian held off a moment, making sure his glare drove home, before turning on his heel just as his father did and walking toward the motorbikes parked in the bay.

With Damian gone, Dick looked back to Wally, his hand still resting on his back. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” Wally answered to quickly, throwing on a grin in the hopes that he’d come off more embarrassed than traumatized. “Yeah, kid just caught me off guard is all.”

Dick nodded, his gaze drifting back to Damian as the boy crossed his arms and leaned against the smaller, red bike. “I’ll talk to him.”

 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

From the edge of the rooftop, Dick looked down at the crime scene ten stories below. Red and blue lights flashed and alternated against the sides of the building, hazy in the light fog of the autumn night. The street had been cordoned off, but civilians and reporters alike were crowded at the barriers, trying to get pictures as yet another high profile drug dealer was escorted into the back of a squad car, sporting a brand new broken nose - courtesy of the ten-year-old sitting on ledge of the rooftop with his legs dangling over the hundred foot drop. The building across from them was an abandoned hotel, full of shattered windows and crumbling walls in this decrepit block of Gotham. Dick took one more moment to look down at the officers assembled below, cleaning up the mess he and Damian had left behind for him. He recognized a few from his own precinct - no doubt he’d be hearing about this in the morning. Another bit of action he’d “missed”. What a shame.

The straight forward mission brought the desired effect on the high strung boy, at least. After getting out and being allowed to blow off some steam, Damian was a little less riled up than he had been hours prior. Dick walked over to him, dropping down on the edge of the roof beside him. The fact alone that Damian didn’t tell him to leave was as good a sign as any.

Leaning back with his arms braced behind him, Dick let his head roll back toward the sky as he let out a long breath. “So,” he began nonchalantly. “Dare I ask what you think of Wally?”

Damian scoffed, snapping his head to the side.

“Come on,” Dick pressed on. “You haven’t exactly been subtle.”

Damian was silent. Dick sat up, giving up on any chance of getting through to Damian tonight before the kid shocked him with a response. “I have no personal opinion of him,” he said.

Better than nothing. “Well,” Dick continued on. “You don’t exactly seem to trust him.”

“I have no _reason_ to trust him.”

“I do.”

Damian scoffed again.

There was something in his inflection this time that put Dick off - he could almost hear Damian rolling his eyes. “What?” Dick prodded. “I do trust him. He didn’t come back just to betray us. He isn’t going to leak our secrets. There’s no grand scheme or plot here. There isn’t even a chance for one. He was just... trapped, and now he’s back. I trust him.”

For what it was worth, Damian did seem to listen. The tension in his shoulders dissolved, and he looked forward once again - still refusing to look directly at Dick, but it was an improvement. “You may say that, but you don’t mean it.”

More intrigued than angry at the statement, Dick leaned toward Damian. “What makes you think that?”

Damian shrugged. “You’ve kept him locked up in the Manor since his return. You haven’t even allowed him into your own home. Clearly, you don’t trust him to stay as much as you think you do.”

In that moment, Dick understood. That was all it took, simple and laid out bare. Damian had only ever known Wally as the man who died and broke Dick’s heart. He’d known him as a name they spoke like walking on eggshells, a part of Dick’s tragic backstory from before he’d ever known him. Now that he was back, Damian was just cautious of Wally leaving again and hurting him. Of course he didn’t trust him. Dick exhaled slowly, letting the realization sink in. He took a moment to gather his thoughts, and planned out his words carefully.

“Damian....” he began carefully, “Wally’s not going anywhere.” Dick hadn’t realized how desperately he’d needed to hear himself say that until now. Swallowing past the dry thickness seizing his throat, he continued. “Look, Wally is... really important to me. And so are you, whether you like it or not,” he added with a light nudge of his elbow, a gesture that was only met with Damian swatting him away. Dick smiled. “It would mean a lot if two of the most important people in my life got along,” he said as he leaned back on his forearms again. “Hell, I’m not even asking you to _like_ him as much as you like me. Just.... tolerate him. Like Tim.”

For a long while, Damian didn’t say a word. He stared down at the scene of the drug bust, watching as a team of squad cars escorted the Drug Lords away. “...I do not like you.”

“Yes you do.”

 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

When Dick got back to the Manor, Bruce was still out, but Tim had long since returned from his mission and hung up his uniform for the night. Damian was quick to change and disappear into the house, and Dick let him go without complaint, recognizing his preference for time to himself. So, Dick took his time in changing out of his uniform, showering the grime of the night off his skin, all while he thought over his conversation with Damian. By the time he was dry and in fresh clothes, Dick emerged from the Cave into the Library and found the Manor entirely quiet. The ticking of a clock on the wall was impossibly loud, echoing between the tomes on the shelves.

Wally was probably asleep at this hour. Dick headed toward the door, padding across the ornate rug with the intent of at least passing by his door before heading to his own room. He’d talk to him in the morning, before they headed out to Keystone. With that occupying his thoughts, it was no wonder that Dick nearly passed by the figure sound asleep on the couch. He paused mid-step when he finally caught sight of Wally, slowly turning back and tiptoeing over to him. He knelt down next to the sofa. Moonlight was cascading in from the window, fading in and out between drifting clouds and falling onto Wally’s peaceful face. Dick was half tempted to let him sleep there, but at the angle he was sleeping he would wake up with a crick in his neck. Reading out, he began to slowly card his fingers through Wally’s hair to coax him awake.

“Wall, hey...” he whispered. “Come on, you’re just gonna get sore like that.”

It took a bit more prodding, but Wally did eventually respond. He responded, however, by jolting with a gasp, eyes flying open in wild fear.

Dick retracted his hands. “Whoa, relax, it’s just me.”

Wally recovered quickly enough. He groaned, rubbing his hand over his face as he pushed himself upright. “Shit, sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” Dick shook his head. “You’re fine, I didn’t mean to startle you. Didn’t want you sleeping like that.”

Wally hummed under his breath, pressing his palms against his eyes for a moment with a steadying breath before dropping his arms back at his sides. “Thanks...” he said.

An uncommon silence drifted between them. Maybe it was the late hour, or the oppressive quiet of the Manor, but for the longest time, or what seemed like it, neither of them could think of what to say. Dick shifted up off  the floor and sat next to Wally on the couch, gaze drifting to the moonlit window and back to Wally again.

“Hey, so I-”

“I’ve been thinking-”

They spoke at the same time and stopped just as quickly, staring at each other before dissolving into quiet laughter.

“You go first,” Dick said.

Wally nodded, staring down at his hands fidgeting in his lap before he spoke again. “I’ve been thinking... why don’t we just... drive?”

Dick frowned. “What do you mean? Drive here?”

“To Keystone,” Wally replied. “Instead of just taking the Zetatube.”

“That’s an 18 hour drive, Wally. And that’s without stopping.”

“Yeah, I know, I just...” Wally trailed off, struggling to get the words out right. “I thought it might be nice to have some time with just the two of us, y’know? Just to get out, take our time... we don’t have to if you don’t want, I just thought-”

“No, Wally, I think that sounds great,” Dick reassured him. He could feel the echoes of Damian’s words in Wally’s, realizing now that he needed to stop holding back. “We can leave in a few days, just to have time to get ready. I’ll let Barry know we’re putting it off a few days. And...” Dick sucked in a steadying breath, looking Wally with a sincere, borderline apologetic smile, “maybe the night before we leave, you can spend the night at my place in Bludhaven? If you want, I mean. Then we can leave first thing in the morning.”

Wally’s beaming smile in return banished any lingering uncertainty in Dick’s mind. “I’d love that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [「TUMBLR」](https://novaviis.tumblr.com) [「TWITTER」](https://twitter.com/novaviis)


	3. Promises That Never Started Right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's just like a sleepover right? Just a regular, old fashioned sleepover with your formerly dead boyfriend.

 

Dick picked Wally up after work. It was hell trying to get the time off, and he had to promise his Captain overtime for two months when he needed it, but Dick managed. So, after work, he rode his bike out of the Gotham City limits, down past the suburbs and out into the rolling greens of the Wayne Estate. It was just late afternoon when he arrived, the autumn wind more bitter and cutting than it had been just days before. The day had been overcast, but promised to clear up before nightfall. Wally was just finishing getting ready when he got there, stuffing the clothes Dick had gotten him into a spare gym bag and hauling it down to the grand foyer where Dick was waiting. He was going to leave his bike there, and take one of Bruce’s cars for the trip, picking out a silver Volvo from the garage. Wally had teased Bruce as he was handing Dick the keys that just because he had to play up the Playboy Persona didn’t mean he needed a fleet at his disposal. Bruce had glared at Wally, withholding his keys for a moment before finally giving in when Dick nudged the former speedster in the side. So, with Wally and his things packed up, they headed back toward the city, veering over Westward Bridge to the Bludhaven burrow.

By the time Dick’s apartment building rose up over their heads as the car rolled toward it down the street, the sky was just tinged with darkness creeping up along the edges. Dick parked the car in the underground garage, and when they stepped out to get Wally’s back from the trunk, the air was damp and cold and smelled like chalky cement. Guiding Wally inside, into the elevator and up to his floor, Dick felt his heart flush faster and hotter in his chest. The quiet bell chime of floor they passed felt more like a count down. He couldn’t even tell what he was dreading so much. He was nervous, sure. Just under a month ago he never would have dreamed that he’d be standing in an elevator with _Wally_ , about to casually walk into his apartment like they were having a sleepover. Now, he found himself almost afraid to let Wally inside, to see how the absence of him had changed him in even the subtle ways.

He was overthinking this. That was it.

Fumbling with his keys in the lock, Dick opened the door and stepped inside his dark apartment, so focused on holding the door open for Wally and watching him walk in that he forgot to turn the light on. It was pitch black, but the tall windows lining the far wall showed a sprawling view of the glowing city below. Right - the lights. Dick flicked the switch, and in the next instant, the space was illuminated and the city disappeared from the windows, blocked out by the reflection of the apartment.

“Well,” Dick shrugged as he tossed his keys onto the kitchen counter. “Home sweet home.”

Wally whistled low under his breath as he toed his shoes off, bag still hung over his shoulder. “Nice,” he commented. It was certainly a step above the little place they’d shared in California, Dick had to admit. “How long’ve you been here?”

Shedding his jacket and following suit with his shoes, Dick paused to think it over. “About... a year and a half now, I think.”

Wally nodded, slipping the strap of his gym bag off his shoulder and over his head. He walked slowly into the apartment, taking everything in. Dick tried not to stare, but couldn’t help watch his every move from the corner of his eyes while he pretended to look at the pamphlet that’d been shoved under his door. Community Mini Golf Tournaments were a poor distraction from watching his former-deceased boyfriend survey his apartment, apparently. Finally, Wally stopped at the foot of the couch, staring at it for a moment before dropping his bag there - like he was setting up to sleep in the living room. Dick, honestly, didn’t really know what to make of that, or the way his stomach tightened at the thought. Wally stretched his arms over his head, eyes trailing over the walls, the shelves, the furniture, before finally landing on Dick. There, his gaze stopped, and Dick could practically see the wheels turning his in head as Dick’s answer to his question settled in.

Dick cleared his throat, setting the pamphlet down on the kitchen table as he took a step forward. “Here, let me hang up your jacket.”

“Hm?” Wally blinked, looking down at himself as if only now realizing he was wearing one. “Oh, yeah, thanks,” he said as he shrugged it off. He tossed the jacket to Dick, who caught it with ease and turned to hang it up with his. With his back turned, he couldn’t see Wally, but he could hear enough to know that he was still standing in place, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “So...” Wally began, “if you’ve only been here for a year and a half... where were you staying before?”

Dick knew where Wally was going with this before he’d asked the question. Grateful that Wally couldn’t see the cringe on his face, he forced his voice to even out as he replied. “Well... the lease was almost up for the old place in Palo Alto, so I just... moved back in with Bruce for a while,” he answered as he pretended to smooth out their jackets on the hook so they wouldn’t fall. “That didn’t last too long though. Eventually, I needed to get back on my feet again.”

When Dick turned over his shoulder, Wally’s expression had shifted, a gentle sort of heartbreak at the mention that he’d ever been off his feet to begin with - Dick couldn’t stand it. He didn’t want to get into the whole mess; how he’d swing back and forth from being at peace to not, how he’d gone off the rails at times, how Barbara’s near-death had been the wake up call he wished so desperately now that he hadn’t needed. Wally seemed to understand, though. He didn’t prod.

Dick finally left the jackets alone. Walking into the kitchen, he leaned back against the counter. “So, I moved out here. Besides,” he flashed Wally a knowing grin. “Batcave got too crowded within the next month.”

Wally laughed, raising a brow. “I’m guessing that’s when Damian moved in?” he chuckled. “Man, that kid could curdle milk with a look.”

“C’mon, he’s not that bad,” Dick argued, unable to keep himself from laughing too. “Damian’s a really good kid, I swear. He had it rough growing up in the Shadows, and he’s got a chip on his shoulder the size of an iceberg, but he has a good heart. He just doesn’t always know how to let it out. Honestly, he reminds me a lot of Bruce... probably why the two of them butt heads so much.”

“Like you’re one to talk,” Wally smirked. “I can remember another stubborn Robin with something to prove.”

Dick’s eyes narrowed as he tried to fight the stupid smile off his face. “Shut up.”

Wally only grinned wider. “Santa Prisca?”

Dick swiped the hand towel off the oven handle, throwing it at Wally’s face. Wally batted it away, peeling it off his head and tossing it back to Dick, who caught it with ease and set it on the counter.

“Speaking of brothers,” Wally said as he crossed the living room into the kitchen, leaning back against the counter adjacent to Dick. “That brings the count up to, what, three now? With Jay?”

Dick’s laughter faded off, but his smile didn’t as he ducked his head and nodded. “Yeah... with Jay.”

Standing across from each other in the dim light of the kitchen, their eyes met, and neither of them had to acknowledge the impossible world they lived in, where the dead coming back to life could happen _twice_ to one person. It was bittersweet for someone like Dick, who’d lost so many loved ones, to feel like fate hand picked some to return and some to remain cold in their graves. But in the end, it was just that; the impossible world and the things they never took for granted.

Wally let his gaze trail out toward the window, where they could just barely see the city through the glare of the apartment light. “Still haven’t seen him yet,” he commented. “He’s gonna hurt my little ol’feelings at this rate. I think we’d have a lot to talk about. We could start a club.”

“Not funny,” Dick nudged Wally’s calf with his toe, even as he laughed. “He comes and goes, anyway. Mostly keeps to himself, but I try to check up on him. It’s all just...” he trailed off, inhaling slowly and letting it out all at once, “weird. Not really sure how to deal with any of it, to be honest.”

“Dick, you’re the strongest person I know for dealing at all.”

There was no hesitation. The conviction in Wally’s voice was enough to leave Dick breathless as his eyes shot up to meet his steady gaze. It was another moment of quiet awe, of stepping back and seeing himself, standing with Wally in the middle of his kitchen, talking about Jason in a context beyond a grave. Dick wasn’t sure he’d ever get over this. “Thanks, Wall...” he murmured.

Wally smiled back at him. It said enough. “Y’know...” Wally trailed off after a long beat of silence, “this is the most you’ve opened up to me since... I got back. Beyond facts I mean.”

He was right, but it still made Dick stop. He hadn’t really thought about it, but... it was just so easy to talk to Wally when he wasn’t holding back. It all came pouring out, but there was no pressure, it wasn’t a build up of things he’d been yearning to talk about for weeks. Dick found himself talking about his life while Wally was gone, and the words came out in a steady stream. He exhaled, shoulders dropping. “Yeah...” he admitted, “and I’m sorry about that. It’s just... I’m trying. I’m _going_ to try.”

It was a loaded promise. They both understood. Wally reached out, laying his hand gently on Dick’s shoulder, thumb tracing a tender pattern on his bicep. “Take your time,” he whispered.

This was such a strange contrast to the last time they’d had a similar conversation. That night they’d stood on the rooftop of Wayne Manor, and Dick had poured his heart out... that had been the moment of release, the pressure that’d built up over years finally bursting forth. They’d established that night that they both still wanted this, that even after everything they still loved each other. _This_ was a confirmation. It wasn’t going to be easy, and they wouldn’t pretend that it was. The healing would come in fits and starts, and that was okay. Dick laid his hand over Wally’s on his shoulder, giving it a squeeze before closing in the distance between him and just looping his arms around Wally’s waist. He pressed his forehead in against Wally’s shoulder. Wally’s arms came up slowly around Dick’s shoulders. For a long while, the two of them just stood like that in the kitchen, the whir of passing cars on the street below and the hum of the fridge the only sounds.

Finally, Dick stepped back, pressing a lingering kiss to Wally’s cheek. “Alright...” he sighed, chest feeling just a little lighter. “I’ve, uh... gotta pack. Didn’t get the chance before I left for work this morning.” He couldn’t help but laugh a bit - the change in topic was abrupt, but he wasn’t sure how else to move on.

At least Wally seemed to understand, laughing quietly with him. “Go ahead.”

Dick hesitated a moment before at last convincing his legs to move,  and heading into his bedroom. He didn’t bother with the overhead light, just flipping on his bedside lamp as he knelt down beside his bed. He reached underneath, pulling out an old dufflebag and dropping it on top of his unmade bed. They’d probably be gone for at least a week, he figured, unable to imagine that Wally’s family would even _let_ him go back to the East Coast so soon after seeing he was alive. That little thought, brought up over how many shirts and boxers he should bring, dragged up a slew of other questions. Would Wally even want to come back with him? Dick glanced out into the all from his bedroom door, watching as Wally walked around the perimeter of the apartment, taking everything. There was that fit and start again - of course Wally would want to _be_ with Dick, that wasn’t the issue, but maybe he’d want to spend more time with his family. Complicated as the Wally’s relationship with them had been in the past, it would be understandable for him to want to  try to mend things.

Too many maybes. Dick pushed himself to his feet and headed over to his closet, picking out clothes and laying them out on his bed. Outside, he could hear the dull creak of a cupboard door opening.

“Since when do you drink tea?” Wally called from the kitchen.

In the middle of folding a pair of jeans, into his bag, Dick chuckled and shook his head. “Barbara got to me,” he replied. “You should have seen Alfred the first time I went back to the Manor and asked for an Earl Grey. He tried getting me to drink it for years. I think he might have debated retirement.”

Wally made some vague noise of acknowledgment, followed by the sound of the cupboard door closing again as he resumed checking out the apartment. As Dick likewise resumed what he was doing, he couldn’t help but glance out into the hall every now and then, catching glimpses as Wally paced. For the most part, he let him be, but Dick found himself fighting down the urge to go out and take in his every expression as Wally surveyed everything from the brand of coffee he bought to the half-dead succulent on his window ledge, like he could gauge what Wally thought of him now - like any of those little details would change anything. Unrealistic, of course, so Dick just focused on debating whether or not to bring a warmer coat as he looked up the weather in Keystone for the next week.

When Dick looked out again, he could just barely see a sliver of Wally’s back as he stood staring at his shelves. He had a few books up there, but it was mostly pretty minimal. Dick knew without really seeing that Wally was likely looking at the pictures he’d hung up and set in frames on the shelf. There were a few there of their friends, Dick’s family, and only one of Wally, kept in a small glass frame. Zatanna had taken it on a double date, the two of them standing against the rail of a restaurant patio overlooking the San Francisco bay. They each had had arm around each other, grinning back at the camera, as Wally did the peace sign behind Dick’s head.

Surprisingly though, that wasn’t the picture Wally took off the shelf. In a more robust frame was a picture taken only a few months ago. Wally carried it down the hall, leaning in the door frame as he flashed it at Dick with a smile. “Is this your graduation?”

Dick glanced over. The photo was of him in the formal black police uniform, hat and all, with Bruce, Tim, Damian, Barbara, and Commissioner Gordon. “From the Police Academy, yeah,” Dick replied. “That was just this past April.”

“You look good,” Wally commented.

“Yeah, I noticed you thought I looked good the other morning.”

Wally flushed up his neck to his cheeks, only managing a glance up at Dick before he was looking down at the photo again, committing it to memory and setting it on the dresser nearby the door. “I’m proud of you, though,” he said as he wandered into the room, almost cautious with his light steps and his hands in his pockets. “Graduating on top of everything you were dealing with.” There was a complete honesty in Wally’s voice that had Dick’s throat aching. “Never did end up getting my degree.”

Dick stopped in the middle of packing a few shirts into his bag. He stared down at the canvas bottom for a long moment, a single knot of dread tying itself in the pit of his stomach. “Did you want to go back to school?” he asked.

Wally shrugged, dropping onto the edge of Dick’s bed and falling back, causing the mattress to bounce and dip with his weight. “I’d like to, I think,” he said. “I just want to try to move on with my life, you know? Like I’d wanted to before. Just... put all of this behind me.”

Clearing his throat, Dick resumed packing. “Well... whatever you decide, we’ll figure it out.”

“I could probably look into doing online courses to finish up,” Wally mused as he stared up at the speckled texture of Dick’s ceiling. “Maybe do an internship at Star Labs Gotham.”

Dick probably shouldn’t have felt as relieved as he did, but he felt it. The thought of Wally going back out to California so soon had him debating in those few seconds whether or not he could get a job with the Police out in Palo Alto if it came down to it. He couldn’t even entertain the idea of being separated right now - the fact that Wally felt the same had all that tension draining steadily from his body. There was, underneath Wally’s words, that uncertainty of staying in Gotham. They had a lot to figure out still. Dick looked down at Wally, taking one of the shirts he’d been packing and tossing it at his face with a grin. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

Wally laughed, just barely catching the shirt before it hit his face. He reared his arm as if to throw it back at Dick, only to stop mid-movement as he looked at the shirt for the first time. Wally pushed himself to sit upright at the edge of the bed, turning the shirt over in his lap. It wasn’t exactly remarkable, just a soft grey tee with “Keystone High” written across the front, but Wally spread it out in his lap. “Isn’t this mine?”

Dick hadn’t even thought about that when he picked it up. He’d just packed it as one of his favourite night shirts. “Oh... yeah, I’ve got a couple of your old shirts and sweaters. Your Mom sent them to me,” Dick explained as he gestured over to a drawer at the very bottom of his dresser. It was cracked open just slightly, but just enough to see a burgundy Stanford University hoodie peaking out. Dick shifted on his feet. “Did you... want them back?”

Wally only stared between the drawer and the shirt in his hands before chuckling under his breath and shaking his head. “No, you can go ahead and keep them,” he said as he handed Dick the shirt with a grin. “You probably wore them more than I ever did anyway.”

Dick took the shirt with a more subdued smile, their fingertips brushing over the fabric before Dick set it into his bag. They didn’t need to say any more about it.

Wally ended up throwing a movie on out in the living room while Dick finished packing - making a huge scene, of course, about Dick taking _forever_ to pack until Dick finally pushed him out into the hall just to get him out of his hair. He tossed him the remote to the TV, pointed him in the direction of Netflix, and told him to entertain himself for five damn minutes before he kicked him out. Wally obeyed, but not without pouting and whining all the way down the hall into the living room. Within two minutes, Dick could hear the low din of voices and music coming from the TV through the walls. As he finished up packing his toiletries, he began to recognize the familiar opening of The Last Jedi. Within minutes came Wally’s incredulous talk-back to the TV. Now, Dick wasn’t a loner by any means, he had friends over every so often, and more often than that hung out with them elsewhere, but still... having this kind of easy background noise was foreign and comforting all at once.

Finally finished, Dick zipped his bag closed and set it on the floor at the foot of his bed. He walked down the hall, leaning against the corner as it opened up into the living room. For a moment, he just allowed himself to stare. Wally was sprawled out on the couch, but Dick could see the outline of his head against the arm rest, his feet on the other side and his arm flung over the back of the couch. He’d somehow already made it into Dick’s cupboard, pulling out a bag of potato chips, and Dick could just heard the ruffle and crunch of Wally reaching into the bag and eating. The glow of the TV cast a halo at the edges of his red hair. It took Wally a while to notice that Dick was there, turning to look at him over the top of the couch. Dick smiled and pushed off the wall. Sitting upright, Wally shifted over a bit to give Dick room to sit as he rounded the couch - almost too much room, Dick couldn’t help but notice. Dick stepped over Wally’s bag, still sitting on the floor, and flopped down on the other end of the sofa.

They watched in silence for a few minutes. It was comfortable, not anywhere near tense or awkward, but still, that empty cushion in the middle of the couch... existed. It was difficult to explain. Dick turned to Wally, to make some comment on how to movie didn’t really hold up to the first sequel, when he caught Wally staring a little too intently at the pilot on screen.

“Still got a thing for Poe?” he grinned.

Wally tore his eyes away from the TV. “Shut up,” he retorted as he flung a chip it Dick.

Dick leaned back just enough to catch it in his mouth, his grin becoming that much more smug as Wally rolled his eyes.

“So, wait,” Wally gestured back at the TV. “Luke’s been hiding out on this rock the whole time? Like some kinda hermit? Why’s he being such an ass?”

Now Dick was the one rolling his eyes, easing back against the cushions. “Just watch the movie, Wall.”

“Okay, okay... but who is this Snoke guy? Do we find that out?”

“Mhm, it’s Jar-Jar Binks.”

_“Fuck yeah.”_

Dick lifted his foot and nudged Wally in the thigh. “Shut up and watch the movie!”

Retaliating with another chip, this one landing right on Dick’s nose and making him go cross eyes for a second, Wally only laughed. He likewise relaxed into that untouched space, leaning just a little closer to Dick. “I didn’t even think about the new movie being out until I saw it on the list,” he commented.

“That’s your problem, Wally,” Dick said. “You’ve been focusing on catching up on everything except what _really_ matters.”

Wally laughed, but there was a loaded weight in his throat as he shook his head and gazed back at Dick. “Guess I missed out on a lot, huh?”

“Yeah...” Dick smiled, shifting into the middle of the couch so he could reach into the chip back and steal a handful, “but I think I can help you out with that.”

Despite Dick’s insistence that they watch the movie, they ended up talking through most of it. The conversation turned from commentary, to other movies, shows, and games Wally needed to check out, to old favourites of theirs, and back to commentary again. Wally nearly lost his mind when Yoda returned, laughing to the point that he complained his stomach hurt, and Dick laughed nearly as hard just watching him. It was like old times, and for once, Dick didn’t feel a sharp pain in his gut at that thought. Halfway through the movie, Wally got too involved in the story to talk much more, and Dick ended up leaning against his side, his head against Wally’s stomach, and Wally’s arm draped lazily over Dick as they took turned clearing out the bag of chips.

With impeccable timing, Wally’s stomach gurgled and growled beneath Dick’s ear just as the credits began to roll. Dick laughed, rolling onto his back to catch Wally’s cheeks flushing. “Hungry?”

Wally’s reply was a bashful grin. “You need to ask?”

It took a bit of untangling, but the two of them managed to get off the couch without tripping over each other, and headed into the kitchen. Dick opened the cupboards, rooted through the fridge, and eventually settled on an elegant dinner of grilled cheese and tomato soup. His food stores were, admittedly, a little bare. He’d been spending so much time going back and forth between here and the Manor in the past couple weeks that the hadn’t really had the time or need to buy groceries. Neither of them really minded though. It was an old favourite of theirs, and in the simplicity of that night, it seemed to fit the theme. So, Dick used nearly an entire load of bread making grilled cheese sandwiches, essentially passing them straight off to Wally, who ate them while he waited for the next to be finished until finally he’d caught up with his stomach. The rest were piled onto a plate and set on the counter, and the two of them ate the sandwiches standing in the middle of the kitchen dipping them into the soup straight out of the pot, like the wild animals they were. At the very least, as compensation, Wally was the one washing the dishes when they were done.

Dick swiped his last half of grilled cheese into the soup pot one more time before Wally dropped it into the soapy dishwater. The sound of the faucet running filled the apartment with a calm white noise. Dick hopped up to sit on the counter, finishing off his sandwich and wiping the leftover grease from his fingers on the damp dishrag before Wally snatched it back to clean.

“Next time,” Dick leaned forward, bracing his arms on his knees, “you’re making dinner.”

Wally glanced up at him as he rolled his sleeves up and stuck his hands in the water. “I didn’t think you hated cooking so much.”

“I don’t,” Dick replied.

“Then why do you sound so adamant about it?”

He shrugged, attention drifting out toward the window as a police siren passed on the street below. “I haven’t had your cooking in over two years.”

Wally raised a brow. “I haven’t had yours either.”

“What the hell do you call that, then?” Dick fired back, gesturing down to the dishes in the sink.

“Until now, I mean,” Wally flicked suds at him.

Wiping the soap bubbles off his shirt, Dick reached a hand into the water to flick him back. “Yeah, but I’ve _been_ cooking, that’s the point. You haven’t touched a pan since June of 2016- oh fuck off, you know what I mean,” Dick rolled his eyes when Wally, smug as anything, lifted the dripping wet pan he was currently cleaning from the sink. “I need to make sure you can actually still do it. Y’know, for science.”

Wally grinned. “You just know I’m a better cook than you.”

“It’s for science, Wall. What if the Speed Force affected your ability to fry chicken?”

It started out as a snorted laugh under his breath, bu soon enough Wally had to brace his hands on the side of the sink just to keep from doubling over laughing. Dick was too entranced watching Wally to laugh along with him. Finally, when Wally caught his breath again, he set the pan and the last dishes on the drying wrack, and wiped his hand off on a dishtowel. “Well,” Wally smiled as he stepped closer to Dick, draping the towel over his shoulder, “I see you’ve finally made it to the joking stage.”

Dick felt his stomach flip at the proximity, as Wally stood between his legs where he sat on the counter. “It’s like you said...” Dick murmured, thinking back to the day they’d spent hours with their friends in the Sun Room after nightfall, “kinda feels like at this point I’ve earned the right.”

He watched as Wally’s gaze flickered down to his lips, hesitant in a way that Wally so rarely was. It felt too much like that space on the couch, the silence in the elevator, and Dick couldn’t stand it. He leaned in, kissing Wally slowly at first, until he felt the other respond with an enthusiasm that burst like it’d been bottled up for weeks. Dick’s hands cupped either side of Wally’s face as Wally leaned in, his arms circling Dick’s waist to pull him closer to the edge of the counter. They’d kissed since Wally’s return, that wasn’t the problem - they’d just been holding back. There was no holding back anymore.

With Wally holding him close, Dick wrapped his legs around his hips. It was for balance at first, but as Wally’s hands slipped down his hips and smoothed over his ass, he found himself holding on just for the sake of it. Before Dick could form a coherent thought, Wally’s mouth was on his neck, tongue lapping at that sensitive spot beneath his ear. Wally navigated him with a memorized ease that hadn’t faded in the years he’d been gone. With a trembling sigh, Dick let his head tilt to the side, his arms sliding around Wally’s shoulders and knocking the dishtowel to the floor. As Wally dragged his teeth lightly along his skin, Dick groaned, rolling his hips into him. The noise Wally made, muffled into Dick’s neck, was positively obscene. Dick had room for only one thought in the heat clouded haze of his mind - they needed to get out of the damn kitchen.

Coaxing Wally to move back, Dick slipped down off the counter. It was only by some miracle that they managed to navigate out of the kitchen and through the living room without tripping over furniture and Wally’s forgotten bag, unable to keep their hands and mouths off each other long enough to see their way. Dick walked backwards, guiding Wally down the short hall and into his bedroom, still illuminated by the amber light of his bedside lamp. They didn’t lay down on the bed so much as tumble, turning as the back of Wally’s knees hit the edge of the bed. The mattress dipped and creaked, the two of them hardly breaking apart. Dick straddled Wally’s waist, a full body sigh shuddering through him as Wally’s lips found his neck again. Everywhere Wally touched, slipping his hands under his shirt, kissing along his jawline, grinding up against him, sent liquid lightning dripping through his body. Dick was already heavy between his legs, straining against the tight waist of his jeans.

There was no thought of taking this slow. They’d been taking it slow, walking on eggshells around each other, for weeks now. This wasn’t a breaking point so much as it was a boiling over, not pressure releasing so much as an inevitable rise and fall. They’d have time to take things slow and savour the moment later. At _this_ moment, Dick was too aware of the friction of Wally’s groin rocking up against his, and the feverish hands struggling to pull his shirt up over his head to think of much else. Dick pulled his shirt off over his head, tossing it into the corner of the room. Wally sat upright beneath him, kissing Dick hard and wrapping his arm around his waist. His stomach swooped as Wally flipped them over, slotting himself between his legs. Dick’s back hit the mattress with no time to catch his breath before Wally was pressing down against him.

They came to an impasse when Dick insistently tried to pull Wally’s shirt off while Wally likewise tried to get Dick out of his jeans, laughing between wet kisses as they untangled enough for Wally get his arms out of the way. Finally managing to kick his jeans off when they caught around his ankles, Dick shivered in relief at the lack of near painful restriction. He could still feel himself straining against his boxers, erection heavy against his stomach. His hands wandered down to the waistband of Wally’s jeans, but before he could do more than slip his thumbs beneath the hem, Wally was kissing his way down Dick’s neck. He kept working his way down, leaving a trail of fire under Dick’s skin until he finally paused just below his naval. Dick watched him like a fucking hawk, breathing fast, and he knew Wally could tell. Wally’s hazel gaze flicked up, and he grinned as he eased Dick’s boxers down off his waist. The cool air didn’t get the chance to make him shiver before Wally had him in his mouth.

Dick had to fist his hands in the sheets just to keep from arching his hips up. “Shit,” he gasped.

“Dick,” Wally lifted his head, fingers wrapping lightly around Dick’s arousal with languid strokes. His breath was hot and wet, ghosting over Dick’s skin as he spoke. “Do you have anything?”

Dick, barely coherent at that point, nodded. He gripped at Wally’s hair with one hand as he went down on him again, reaching out with the other open his nightstand draw and grope around in the dark. His fingers brushed over a thin plastic bottle, but after a moment of rooting around for a cardboard box, he realized with a cold flush from his head down to his chest that he didn’t have it. Reality caught up to him in that moment. The lube he had on hand just for himself, but he had no reason to buy condoms. Memories of the past year trickled back like ice dripping down his spine. “Wall- Wally, wait.”

Wally pulled off him in an instant. He sat up, his face red and shining lightly with sweat. “What’s wrong?” his voice was already wrecked.

Dick pushed himself up on his forearms, taking a moment to catch his breath and try to think clearly. He was still hard against his stomach, but he tried to push aside the feral want. “I... I need to tell you, I’ve...” he panted, swallowing hard in an effort to even himself out. Wally was staring at him in a crushing mix of concern and love. Dick licked his lips. “I’ve... been with someone else.”

Maybe it was the dim light. Maybe it was the lust hungry fog of his brain. Maybe it was just Dick’s own anxiety, but he swore that just for a moment he could see Wally’s expression change. It wasn’t heart break, but it was something close, and Dick’s stomach clenched in agony.

“I-It was this past summer,” Dick explained quickly, stumbling over his words. “We used protection, it wasn’t anything - it didn’t last, but I don’t have any condoms right now, so I mean, if you don’t want to-”

Wally kissed him. He surged forward, hand on Dick’s cheek as he kissed him raw and without reservation. The relieved sigh that punched itself free of Dick’s gut dissolved into a moan as Wally pushed him down against the mattress again. Dick reached into the drawer again and pulled the lube out. Wally took the bottle from Dick, smiling against his lips before shifting back. With a methodical sort of affection, he pumped the lube into his hand, warmed it up between his fingers, and slowly worked Dick open. Dick squirmed at the first finger, impatient and needy, until the second and then the third reminded him with a pleasant sting that it’d been a while - at least, it’d been a while since he’d done this properly. They hadn’t been that eager to take their time before, but this wasn’t the place to rush.

They were barely kissing at that point. Wally tipped their foreheads together, noses bumping, just breathing into each other. Fumbling with the button and fly of Wally’s jeans, Dick eventually managed to shift his pants down enough to pull his erection free. Wally groaned, pressing his face into Dick’s shoulder as he began to jerk him off in time with every push and pull of his fingers. Finally, Dick’s impatience caught up with him again. He tugged insistently at Wally’s jeans until finally the redhead complied, moving back enough to kick them off and let them fall off the side of the bed. Grabbing the lube from where Wally’s set it down on the sheets beside them, Dick pumped it into his hand and slicked it over Wally’s already weeping cock. Wally’s hips stuttered into Dick’s hand.

Both of them knew they weren’t going to last much longer like this. Wally sat back, and Dick shifted, legs spread wide as Wally rubbed his shaft along Dick’s ass, taking a moment just to smile teasingly at him - that smile faded so quickly from mischievous to adoring that it sent Dick’s mind spinning up toward the stars. He could feel Wally’s gaze on him, trailing over his body, open and waiting. Wally was golden at the edges in the amber lamplight, leaning over him, so sublime that Dick had to consciously remind himself that this was real. Wally lined himself up and pushed in slowly. Dick sighed through the ache, feeling Wally pry him apart. He felt like he was being split down the middle, cleaved in half, and it was so fucking euphoric he could had cried. Settling over him, Wally caught Dick’s hands, interlacing their fingers on the sheets and pinning them by his head. Without breaking eye contact, Wally rolled into him.

The pace was steady at first, not so much fucking as just grinding into each other. There was something to be said about the fact that Wally angled his hips up into Dick’s prostate without even trying to find it, that he still had him so perfectly memorized. They kissed open mouthed and messy, all spit and teeth and hoarse moans. Dick’s cock ached, drooling against his abs as Wally bent him in half, pulling out further and pushing in harder with every thrust. As the pace picked up, Wally let go of Dick’s hands, threading his arms beneath him to hold as close as possible. Dick threw his arms around Wally’s back, scratching lightly between his shoulder blades. 

 _“Babe,”_ Wally groaned, and with that and one hard thrust, Dick came spilling out onto his chest, whimpering and gasping he arched up against Wally and jerked himself off. He hadn’t heard Wally call him that in years, that one little term of endearment sending his world tilting back until he was dipping his head into the stars. Wally kept going, letting Dick ride his orgasm out for all it was worth, moaning and panting as his rhythm grew erratic. Wally had always been vocal in bed, withholding absolutely nothing, and each sound resonated deep in Dick’s ears until he could feel the vibration in his chest.

The light slap of skin on skin, and the wet slick of lube grew louder over their guttural moaning as Wally screwed Dick into the creaking mattress. Hair dripping down over his face, damp with sweat, Dick watched as his face tightened, mouth hanging open. Wally pushed in as deep as he could, and with a loud, pitchy gasp, came spilling out into Dick. Flooded with warmth, Dick looked down between them, watching as Wally pulled out just enough to see as he pulsed into him like a heartbeat.

It felt like hours before the high came settling down into a sated throb. Dick went lax on the mattress, his legs falling down and spreading on the sheets as Wally slowly pulled out. He had to close his eyes for a moment, raw emotions catching up with him in a fucking tidal wave. Before he’d even realized there were tears falling down his cheeks, Wally was wiping them away with the pad of his thumb. Dick opened his eyes, and Wally was still there. Smoothing the hair back off his face, Wally leaned down and kissed Dick’s forehead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, got a little steamy there, didn't it? As always, let me know what you thought in the comments! You can also follow me at the links before if you're new around here. 
> 
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	4. Face The Music When It's Dire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back. Sorry about that disappearance, life got hectic and to be a entirely honest, I was feeling a little burnt out with writing for a while there. It's been so incredible to get back into this story though. I know I say this a lot, but I think this might be my favourite chapter I've written. I really hope it was worth the wait!

Wally woke up with his face pressed against the cool glass window. He had his arms crossed over his chest, the seat belt bent at an odd angle under his arm, and his long legs folded into the cramped space at his feet. The sound of a pump starting up outside, and the clink of the gas cap on the side of the car slowly drew him from his groggy slumber. When Wally opened his eyes, he was met with a dark indigo sky, stars peeking through overhead, slowly being chased away by the hint of light in the east. The overhead lights of the gas station were florescent white. Wally blinked slowly, reaching up to scrub his hand over his face to return some feeling.

As he shifted upright in his seat, his gaze was drawn to the side mirror, where he caught the reflection of a leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up and a forearm holding the gas pump in place. Wally turned in his seat to see Dick standing over the side of the car. His hair was still a little damp from his shower that morning.

He’d woken up that morning to the sound of the shower in the next room. It’d still been dark out, the sliver of yellow light falling on the sheets from the crack of the bathroom door. Wally remembered, with a sort of groggy half-awareness, getting up and washing his face, Dick coaxing him to get dressed, and carrying his bags down to the car. He remembered the car pulling out onto the road, city lights and highway signs blurring as he slumped against the window and nodded off.

With a long stretch in the limited space he had, Wally shook his head in a pitiful attempt to wake up a bit. He tried to swallow back a yawn, but found himself giving in and putting his hand up over his mouth as it escaped. Looking back at the side mirror, Wally found that Dick was walking away from the pump and heading inside the pay, hands shoved in the pockets of his jackets and head ducked down against the cool, early morning wind. They had a long day ahead of them, and Wally was already exhausted. His stomach rumbled viciously - so, maybe that was why.

Dick returned several minutes later, grunting as he lowered himself into the car with two cups of coffee and a plastic bag on his arm. Wally took his coffee and set it into the cupholder so that he could take the bag from Dick and let the other settle back into the car. Inside was an assortment of chips, pretzels, power bars, beef jerky sticks, sports drinks, and shitty gas station sandwiches complete with saran wrap packaging.

“Figured that’ll keep you tied over for a while,” Dick said as he put his cup in the other holder.

Wally grinned as he pulled out a questionable looking chicken club, already peeling off the wrapper. “That sounds like a challenge to me,” he said around his first bite. Dick only rolled his eyes, reaching across the seat and into the bag - which, worth reminding, was still in Wally’s lap. Dick shot him his own grin as he felt around for another sandwich. By the time he was sitting upright and taking a bite out of his chosen ham and cheese, Wally was red in the face and quickly setting the bag on the floor by his feet.

Wally cleared his throat. “Where are we, anyway?”

Taking a few more bites while it was easier, Dick chased it down with a sip of coffee before setting the sandwich on his lap and turning the key in the ignition. “Almost at the New Jersey boarder, we’ve only been driving for a little over an hour so far. I want to make as few stops as possible, but we can grab some lunch once we’re deeper into Pennsylvania.”

As the car pulled out of the gas station and out onto the road, Wally shifted and settled back in his seat. “Few stops as possible?”

Dick shrugged. “It’s a long drive - I don’t mind or anything, but I’d like to try to make good time.”

“Wait, you’re not seriously suggesting we drive through the night, are you?”

“Why not?”

Wally took a larger bite out of his sandwich, his foot tapping anxiously against the floor. “Well, what’s the rush? We could take it easy, spend the night at a motel. Either way, we’ll get there before we see my folks tomorrow night.”

“Pulling all nighters is nothing new to me,” Dick replied simply (read: infuriatingly stubborn). “It’s fine.”

Wally rolled his eyes. “Then at least let me take turns driving.”

Dick met that eye roll with a side glance, raising a brow with an infuriating (read: smug and beautiful bastard) smirk. “ _You_ technically don’t have a drivers license anymore,” he replied, cutting Wally off before he could form an argument. “And on top of that, you’ve got a lead foot. This’ll be a real short trip if we get pulled over on the interstate.” With that, Dick reached back over to the cup holder and grabbed his coffee, taking a definitive sip to end the conversation.

Slumping in his seat, Wally sighed and reluctantly gave in for the moment. “Alright, alright, your call, babe.”

Dick sputtered into his coffee, just a minuscule little choke up that he cleared with a short cough as he set the cup down. Wally grinned, taking it as his own little victory. He certainly hadn’t missed Dick’s reaction when he’d called him that last night, and he was fully expecting that reaction when he said it again. Last night... god, he couldn’t think about it too much without getting a little uncomfortably hard in the car. Still, it’d been like no other time they’d had sex before. Thing was, for Wally, it really hadn’t felt like that long. A month, maybe. A month, and a casual coma. For Dick... he could tell that it had really _meant_ something to him, even if he’d had sex once in the past two years. Wally would be lying if he said he wasn’t a little envious of this other guy. It’d be an even bigger lie to say that he wasn’t a little curious about the other guy, about what Dick had seen in him. It wasn’t something he held against Dick, though. He thought he was _dead,_ for fuck’s sake. So, being able to have that again... well, he couldn’t imagine what it’d been like.

However, the one thing that’d made it _really_ something special for Wally, beyond the pent up longing and lust, was the vision of seeing Dick beneath him, flushed down to his bare chest, with that gold ring on a chain around his neck, catching glints of shimmering moonlight. That alone had been enough to push him over the edge.

Finishing off his sandwich, Wally reached down into the bag on the floor to pull out another, taking the chance to steal a look at that ring still hanging around Dick’s neck. Too many unanswered questions surfaced. Wally thought about voicing them, but in the silence of the car, chickened out before he could open his mouth. He sat back in his seat, turned up the radio, and settled in for the long ride.

 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

“Cow’s on my side.”

Wally drummed his fingers against the dashboard to the beat of “Bad Moon Rising” crackling over the radio. From the diver’s seat, Dick shot him a confused glance, one dark brow raised at the obvious statement that yes, there was a cow in the field to the right side of the car. Wally only grinned, going back to drumming out the beat of the music as it faded into “Fight For Your Right.” He turned his attention back to the window and the rolling fields between islands of trees. A farm full of cattle opened up on the right side of the road.

“Cow’s on my side,” he repeated.

Again, silence.

“Cow’s on your side.”

“Oh my god.”

They didn’t stop for lunch until they were just south of Pittsburgh, a few more hours in. The world outside the car windows faded from trees, to hills, to ruddy grey cities, and back again. It was a monotonous sort of pulse as they passed through small towns and interstate truck stops, to the point that Wally had been almost convinced several times that they were going in circles despite driving in a straight line for hours - seeing that many Crackerbarrels and Wafflehouses could do that to a person. The morning had been gorgeous, with the sun rising behind them and throwing wisps of lilac and peach onto the soft haze of clouds.

Surprisingly, though, it wasn’t all that bad. Wally typically didn’t do well with sitting still for long periods of time, but once he’d figured out how to put his seat back, he was able to stretch his legs out enough to keep from feeling too cramped. He’d made quick work of the food Dick had gotten that morning, being sure to (for the most part) leave Dick his share, but even then he was starving by the time they stopped for gas and food. It was a quick chance to stand and walk around, refuel, and then get back into the car and on the road. Wally just barely made it to the Ohio border before he was feeling restless again.

With the same grin, Wally tapped out the instrumental break of the song and looked over at Dick. “What?”

“Why do you keep doing that?” Dick asked, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice. He blinked and squinted as a passing patrol truck’s metal tank flashed the afternoon sun into his eyes.

The finger drum-solo paused. “Does it bother you that much?”

“What?” Dick’s eyes flickered from the road to Wally. He shook his head. “No, not that, - the cow thing.”

Wally only shrugged. “We’re playing Cow,” he informed him matter-of-factly.

Dick snorted back a laugh. “We’re... what?”

Sitting upright, Wally shifted in his seat to angle himself sideways toward Dick. “Y’know. Cow,” he said.

“Well, thanks for the heads up,” Dick rolled his eyes. Reaching into the console between them, he felt around until he found a pair of sunglasses. He flicked them open and slid them over his eyes.

Wally thew on a look of mock surprise and awe. “Whoa, Robin, is that you? When did _you_ get here?”

Dick reached across the seat and smacked his shoulder.

Feigning injury, Wally slumped dramatically against the door with a loud, voice cracking cry of pure _bullshittery_. Dick had to hold the steeling wheel and lock his elbows just to keep from doubling over laughing. When he’d finally calmed down enough to breathe (during which Wally had spent the entire time just watching him laugh like he’d never get tired of it), Dick pushed his hand back through his hair and grinned back at Wally.

“Alright,” he began, edges of laughter still seeping into his voice. “What exactly is Cow then, since you’re the expert here.”

“You’ve seriously never played Cow?” Wally asked. “It’s like the classic, stupid road trip game. You just call out cows as you see them. If I call them on my side, I get a point. If I call them on your side, I get a point and I steal one of yours, and vice versa. Although you kinda suck at this so far, so I don’t have any points to take.”

Dick nudged him with his elbow. “I’m a fast learner.”

Nudging him right back, Wally shifted in his seat again. “Dude, you spent like the first what - seven or eight years of your life on the road? How do you not know Cow?”

“Technically, we were on a train most of the time, so it wasn’t really the road,” Dick replied, focusing back on the highway with a hint of a fond smile at the corner of his lips. “But we did have our own travel games, I guess. Trivia, the wordplay game, things like that. I did a lot of my home schooling with my parents between cities, so most of the time, I had that to keep me occupied.”

Wally nodded, trying to picture a young Dick staring out the window of a train, playing games with his parents, probably just excited for a new show. It brought a little bittersweet thought to mind. He and Dick had met when they were kids, and had been friends for years before they’d ever started dating. Wally had always found comfort in the fact that he got to have so much of Dick’s life. There was a before and there was an after. They had so much time to share - or so they’d always thought. Now there was this gap, another time that he had to imagine Dick, what he’d been like, what he’d felt. Wally wasn’t sure he’d ever shake that feeling of having missed out - but he made the resolution that he would never miss the moments he was _here_ with him.

“Well, we’ve still got eleven hours ahead of us,” Wally said with a long sigh as he sank into his seat. “I’ve got a few road trip games up my sleeve, if you want to learn from the master.” With that, he paused, turning a sly grin to Dick. “This next one is called Road Head,” he wiggled his eyebrows, obviously, for emphasis.

Dick smacked his shoulder again.

Wally just laughed this time, his attention quickly switching down to the growing static on the radio. His face twisted, dissatisfied with the interruption of the music, and he reached over to turn the tuning dial. It took a bit of fiddling, but he eventually settled on another classic rock station. It was the sixth time he’d had to tune the radio on this trip, each station growing in strength and fading away - city to city, field to field, as the land before them slowly began to flatten out into the Midwestern plains. As “More Than A Feeling” started up over the speakers, Wally began to tap his fingers on the door, gaze drifting out to the rolling green. As the highway took them around a bend, a cemetery opened up in a far field. Wally watched it pass for a long moment sitting back.

“Ghost Cow. That’s, like, ten points.”

“Now you’re just making shit up.” 

 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

By early evening, the clouds started rolling in. What started as a hazy gray overcast grew darker as heavy rain clouds brewed over the horizon. Dick had long since taken off the sunglasses, seeing as the sun was pretty much nonexistent beyond the thick cloud cover. Station surfing on the radio had gotten old once they made it halfway through Indiana, so they’d plugged in Dick’s phone, listening to his music under the ever present hum of wind and tires on concrete. The fact that they’d made it past the halfway point brought little to no comfort when accompanied by the idea that they still had over eight hours to go. The closer they got to Kansas, the inexplicably tighter Wally’s chest became - just by the slightest increments since they’d gotten into the car that morning, barely noticeable as they gained distance, but now that they had crossed into the Midwest and the landscape had become more familiar, Wally felt it hit him.

“It’s starting to look pretty nasty up ahead,” Wally commented. “Might storm. I still feel like we should find a place to crash for the night.”

Dick leaned forward in his seat a bit, glancing up at the clouds overhead. It wasn’t quite dark yet, but the dusk was fast approaching and the headlights of the car were throwing orange light out onto the concrete ahead. “Doesn’t look that bad,” Dick replied. “It’ll pass. Besides, we’re almost there.”

Wally raised a critical brow. “Almost? Babe, we’re still eight hours away, and that’s if we don’t hit traffic or bad weather.”

“Exactly,” Dick shrugged. “Why delay?”

Tilting his head back, Wally stared up at the ceiling of the car and sighed. “Well, at least I know your stubbornness hasn’t changed.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Dick asked with a lingering side glance.

Wally let his head lull to the side. “If you’d asked me that two and a half years ago, I might have said yes, but even then I probably would have been lying.”

Dick turned back to the road, hiding a secretive smile. “And now?”

“And now,” Wally chuckled, “it’s just _you_. It is a bad thing if it gets us in a car wreck, though.”

“I’m not gonna get us in a car wreck,” Dick rolled his eyes. “Here, if it starts raining _really_ bad, we’ll find somewhere to stop. Happy?”

“Joyful, in fact,” Wally replied.

“And I mean _really_ bad. A little mist isn’t going to do us in for the night.”

“Does your entire pride rely on making this trip in one go or something?”

“Well, it didn’t before you challenged me, but now it might.”

Wally sputtered into a laugh. “I never challenged you!”

“You challenged me by proxy,” Dick shot back with a smug grin. “That’s almost worse.”

“Whatever.” An approaching sign off to the right side of the road advertised a rest stop at the next exit. Wally jerked his thumb toward it before it disappeared behind them. “Mind if we at least stop for a minute then? I need to take a leak.”

Dick looked like he wanted to protest, but one glance down at the fuel gauge had him reconsidering. “Alright,” he gave in, already flicking his blinker on to get into the exiting lane. “Though for the record, if we didn’t need gas, I woulda just made you go on the side of the road.”

“Reminds me of our last road trip,” Wally smiled.

Dick mirrored the smile with his own as he guided the car off the interstate. “That was Palo Alto to Los Angeles, wasn’t it?”

Wally nodded. “I think we stopped six times on a six hour trip just because Zatanna and Artemis kept having to go. I was about ready to take their water bottles and throw them out the window.”

“Speaking of,” Dick grinned as snatched Wally’s half empty water bottle from the cup holder and took a long swing, draining the rest in one go. He only laughed at Wally’s horrified and betrayed expression, tossing the empty plastic bottle at him.

Night had fallen by the time they’d followed the signs off the interstate and onto the side roads leading to the rest stop. The overhead lights of the gas station were a beacon in the dark, a seedy little place that looked like it hadn’t been touched since the 80’s. Still, it was functional, and not so grimy that it might give either of them tetanus just by proximity, so Dick pulled up to the pump. With him refilling the gas tank, Wally headed inside, giving a nod to the cashier behind the counter as he made his way into the bathroom. When he emerged a minute later and headed toward the door, the cashier, a balding woman in her 60’s with inch long nails, cleared her throat. Wally stopped halfway to the door, looking back at her in confusion. She only pointed to a sign on the adjacent wall.

_‘Restroom for Paying Customers Only.’_

“My boyfriend’s just filling up outside,” he said, pointing out the window at Dick across the asphalt.

The cashier arched a thinly drawn brow, entirely unimpressed with a look that bordered repulsion in the curl of her lip. Not really feeling like getting into an argument, despite the fact that he could pretty clearly guess why she wasn’t letting that slide, Wally rolled his eyes and grabbed a stick of gum from off a shelf. He set it on the counter with slightly more force than necessary. The cashier said nothing, just scanned the gum and let the total come up on the analog screen above the register. Fishing two bills out of his back pocket, Wally passed her the money and waited for her to finish up - which she seemed to be taking her time in doing. Wally’s attention drifted, tailing over the interior of the gas station before it was inevitably caught by the flickering neon lights across the road.

In the next lot, completely paved over with cracked concrete, was an old fashioned diner, ‘Famous Ed’s’ from what he could read of the aging sign. Besides it sat a motel, proudly announcing its vacancy to the empty Indiana road. The cashier cleared her throat again. Wally’s gaze snapped back, stuffing the stick of gum in his pocket and gathering his change, all while trying to avoid eye contact for fear that one look would turn him into stone. He’d been turning away from the counter just as the bell over the door chimed and Dick walked in to pay.

“Babe, look,” Wally nodded his head toward the window and the lot across the road. “Let’s stop in for dinner.”

Dick followed his gaze as he slid the cash onto the counter, pursing his lips at the diner. “I don’t know...”

“We need a _real_ break from the car,” Wally pushed. “Besides, a man can only survive on gas station sandwiches for so long. We can spare an hour.”

For a short moment, Wally was sure that Dick was going to insist that they keep going, but to his surprise and relief, he relented. “Alright. Just a quick bite, though,” he said, taking his change from the cashier with a dazzling smile.

The cashier frowned back at him, leaning closer form over the counter. “You from around here?” she asked. It was the first time she’d spoke, but somehow Wally wasn’t shocked to find that she sounded like she’d been smoking for 40 years.

Dick shook his head as he pocketed his change. “No, can’t say I am.”

“Hm,” the Cashier grunted, slouching back into her chair. “Coulda sworn I seen you around before.”

Dick took one glance at the magazine stand, where a picture of Bruce Wayne and his family at their last Gala graced the front page. Sharing a knowing smirk with Wally, the two headed out the door, Dick smiling at her as he turned back over his shoulder. “Maybe I’ve just got one of those faces.”

 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

The waitress’ frankly appalled expression as she repeated their order was nothing short of hilarious. Dick and Wally had to practically bite their tongues to keep from laughing as they confirmed that yes, they were in fact going to eat _all_ of that. It was only when she hesitantly walked away from their table that they shared one look and started snickering like children.

‘Famous Ed’s’ was a perfect time capsule, completely untouched since the 60’s. The floors were black and white checkerboard, and the seats were upholstered in cracked red pleather. A neon jukebox sat in the corner, in a space cleared of chairs with a dusty disco ball hanging from the ceiling. Every square inch of the walls was covered with vinyl records, news clippings and pictures of the owners and employees with celebrities like Doris Day, Steve McQueen and John Wayne. Wally got the impression that Ed’s diner _used_ to be famous more than anything else. Still, the food smelled great, the drinks were cheap, and it wasn’t the inside of the car, so he could really care less.

The jukebox was currently playing an album from The Rolling Stones, and Wally found himself singing along to “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” under his breath without meaning to. He’d barely noticed until he caught Dick staring at him from with other side of the table with a raised brow and a smile on his face that hinted at adoration.

Wally stopped, feeling his cheeks go a bit warm as he laughed. “What?”

“Since when are you such a Classic Rock fan, huh?” Dick chuckled, leaning back casually in his seat, arm over the back of the bench. He looked right at home with his leather jacket and his stupid, perfect hair.

Wally’s quiet laughter turned almost bashful as he shifted forward, arms folded on the table. “I’m not,” he confessed. Staring down, he focused on the cracks and scuff marks on the table’s finish, worn away over the years and covered in decades worth of pen ink graffiti. “My Dad is - or was, I dunno. He was always playing it in the house or the car when I was a kid.”

“Yeah, I remember that,” Dick nodded. “That why you kept tuning the radio to rock Stations?”

“Maybe,” Wally shrugged. “Guess I didn’t really think about it.” Now that he _did_ think about it, though, he decided pretty quickly that he’d rather not. It was just a background detail in his early life - the music he heard when he woke up on Sunday mornings and his Dad was already up getting ready for Church, the soundtrack playing through drives out into the country to his grandparents’ house, the discordant background noise through shouting matches in the living room. Wally breathed out, scratching his blunt fingernails through his scalp before sitting back against the creaking cushion.

Wally stared out the window, past the fluorescent reflection of the inside of the diner, and out onto the wide expanses of flat fields stretching out into the pitch black night. He wondered idly if his Dad still listened to that music. Stubborn and set in his ways as the man was, he probably did. Thing was, Wally really didn’t know. In the last two years of his life before he was lost in the Speed Force, he didn’t have much of a relationship with his father - and he didn’t want one, really. His Dad was a homophobic, abusive drunk. He and his Mom had been in the middle of a bitter divorce by the time the Invasion shook the world. Wally hadn’t wanted anything to do with the man - or that was what he’d told himself.

Because the thing that sucked the most was that it wasn’t always like that. His Dad was also the one who taught him to drive, who was patient if not a little tense, who played games with him when he was young, and bragged about him to his friends. So he _knew_ that he was capable of being a good Dad, and that made it hurt so much fucking more when he wasn’t. Wally had spent years feeling guilty and bitter every time he caught himself wishing that he had a relationship with him, telling himself that he shouldn’t want that. Now, however, nothing was clear.

Wally was broken from his thoughts as the waitress returned with two Root Beers and a plate of homefries just to start them off. He watched as Dick flashed her a smile in thanks, entirely unaware of how dazzling he was. Wally was sure that Dick didn’t notice, but he did, when the waitress walked away with a blush on her cheeks, smiling at her coworker behind the counter.

The food kept coming - three breaded pork sandwiches, a tall stack of pancakes, and onion rings. Dick took his single sandwich and stole a few bites of Wally’s meal, but otherwise let him take the lead here. Let it be said that Wally wasn’t the pig about  good that he was when he was a teenager. He didn’t shovel his meal into his mouth as fast as possible and leave a mess in his wake. Still, he ate like he had a black hole for a stomach, and he couldn’t help smirk at the way Dick was trying to keep a straight face, the both of them glancing over to see the staff watching in abject horror.

It wasn’t until the plates were cleared that Wally found the nerve to ask what’d been on his mind. They still had a slice of Sugar Cream Pie on the way, so it gave a bit of a respite in between. Wally took a long sip of his Root Beet before speaking. “So...” he began only to trail of hopelessly, struggling to find the right words. Dick caught on to the change in his tone immediately and gave him his full attention. “You, uh... you said that - I mean, when I first came back, you’d mentioned... you had lunch with my Dad this past summer.”

Dick nodded slowly. “Yeah.”

Wally cleared his throat. “How, uh... how was that? I mean, what was that about?”

Catching on to what Wally was trying to get at, Dick let his head tip back, staring up at the ceiling tiles. “I was just as surprised as you are,” Dick said. “He called me just as I was getting ready for Patrol. When I realized who it was, I was nearly convinced I was drugged or hallucinating or something,” he breathed out a quiet laugh as he dropped his head again. “Apparently him and your Mom started meeting for lunch every two weeks after you...” he let that go unsaid. “The way he put it, they still couldn’t stay married, they just weren’t right together anymore, but after losing you... well, they didn’t want things to end as badly as they were headed to. So, your Dad started going to therapy, and they made a deal to have lunch together. At some point, they decided to invite me. Honestly, I wasn’t sure about going at first, but I figured that him wanting anything to do with me was a decent sign.”

Dick paused, and Wally could practically see the memories of that afternoon playing out in Dick’s memory from his expression alone. Wally waiting, trying to smother his burning curiosity. “And it was...?”

“Awkward as all hell,” Dick laughed. “We met up at a _cafe_ of all places. It was your Mom’s favourite and she picked it out. When I realized that she wasn’t going to make it, I seriously thought about running right out the door. Neither me or your Dad really knew what to say for the first twenty minutes, but eventually, he explained to me everything I just told you. Then he started asking me about how I was doing, said that he’d heard I just graduated from the Police Academy, and once we got past the awkward part, it was... actually really nice.”

“Was this around the time you were seeing that other guy?” Wally heard the words come out of his own mouth and instantly wished he’d swallowed his own tongue instead. He hadn’t thought, the words just came out before he could stop them and by the time he realized, it was too late.

Dick’s eyes snapped up to him, the picture of a deer caught in headlights. It took him several seconds to recover, quickly looking down at the table. “It was just after, actually...”

For a minute, Wally thought about changing the subject. He thought about apologizing and proceeding to smother his curiosity in the pie that the waitress was currently carrying toward their table. Either entirely oblivious to the tension between them or just dismissive, she set the generous slice down on the table.

“Need anything else, boys?” she asked in a tone that suggested she was a little afraid for the answer.

Dick cleared his throat. “Uh, no, that’s all thanks. Just the bill.”

“Sure thing.” With a cheeky wink, she headed back behind the counter, leaving the two of them alone again.

Wally thought about changing the subject, about apologizing, about all of that, but realized that this could be the only opportunity he got to really find out. So, he cut his fork into the tip of the slice and took a bite, this time thinking over his words with a little more care before speaking. “Well... what was he like?”

Dick’s scoff was all at once incredulous and amused. “You seriously want to talk about my Ex?”

At that, Wally couldn’t help but smile, nudging Dick beneath the table with his foot. “I’ve never had an Ex before. I’m living vicariously through you.”

Dick had been in the middle of chewing his first bite of pie and nearly choked at that comment. It took him a short coughing fit and about a quarter of his Root Beer before he could speak again. “This is really, _really_ weird, but alright, you asked for it,” he laughed. “His, uh... his name was Calvin Rose. I met him at a bar in Gotham one night when I was hanging out with Artemis. It was sort of a whirlwind thing. We had a few drinks, and started talking, and-”

“Was that when you-”

“No!” Dick nudged him back under the table with a little more force. “Who the hell do you think I am? He just gave me his number. I didn’t call for a week, couldn’t work up the nerve. Technically, I never did. He ended up calling me, said he looked me up because he couldn’t wait any longer. So, we went on a date, and.... yeah,” Dick laughed a little nervously. “We went out for a few weeks, but he started getting overbearing, trying to move things too quickly,” he faded off there, his eyes distant. Wally thought for a moment that he was going to leave it there, but with a deep breath, he continued. “Everyone was telling me at the time that I should try to “get back out there” again, but... I don’t think I was ready. So, I broke it off. It was just bad timing for me, but Calvin was a bit of a jackass about it,” Dick shrugged. “Not exactly a romancer.”

Maybe it was a stupid moment of jealousy. Maybe it was him trying to prove something. Maybe it was nothing but a spur of the moment idea at the thought of romance, but the jukebox in the corner had already caught his eye. “Not a romancer, huh?” Wally grinned. Setting down his fork, Wally slid out of the booth and walked over to the jukebox, fishing his change from the gas station out of his pocket. He could feel Dick’s gaze on him, as he popped a quarter into the machine and began flipping through the vinyls.

“What are you doing?” Dick asked with an edge of apprehension in his voice.

Wally’s grin only widened as he settled on a song, hit select, and turned back to face Dick. “Lucky for you, you’ve got a romancer, right here.”  The first opening note of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” began to [play](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGJTaP6anOU) from the jukebox. Wally walked back over to the booth, stopping on Dick’s side and holding out his hand.

Dick’s gaze flickered between Wally and the rest of the diner. There were only a few other patrons - an elderly couple, a man reading the paper at the counter, and a few teenagers sitting at the far end doing homework. When Dick finally looked back, he was straining to hold back a smile. “You’re not serious.”

“Dead serious.”

“No way.”

“Yes way.”

“This is so corny.”

“Come on, don’t make me do the voice,” Wally mock threatened. When Dick didn’t respond fast enough, he pointed out his index fingers and swayed to the slow beat, lowering his voice in a horrible Elvis impression. _“Only fools rush in-”_

“Okay, okay!” Dick finally relented, even if just to get him to stop being so embarrassed. Laughing as he shook his head, Dick took Wally’s hand and allowed himself to be tugged up toward the improvised dance floor.

Wally wrapped an arm around Dick’s waist, as Dick draped his over Wally’s shoulder. With their hands clasped beside him, they started into a slow sway from foot to foot in time with the music. Wally’s heart swelled, stupid and in love as he stared down at Dick, the both of them smiling and laughing quietly just between themselves. There they were, slow dancing in a diner in the Midwest. The elderly couple a few tables away stood up, and despite everything, Wally still felt his heart skip. He assumed in that instant that they were about to walk out, probably throw a few disgusted glares that way, if not words, and _still_ despite Wally telling himself it didn’t _matter_ , he felt that moment of fear. But the couple walked toward them, and then stopped, joining hands a few feet away as they joined them in dancing. Wally grinned, nodding to the old woman who smiled at him as if in thanks, before looking back at Dick. His sky blue eyes were shining, not quite in tears but far from dry either.

There was nothing left of fear in him when he leaned in and kissed Dick softly. They only parted when Dick pulled away to stifle a yawn into Wally’s shoulder. Wally chuckled quietly under his breath, smoothing his hand up and down Dick’s back as they just continued to sway along with the melody. Outside, a roll of distant thunder was the only warning they got before a light rain began to fall, growing heavier by the minutes. The day was finally catching up to the both of them. Wally pressed his mouth to the side of Dick’s head, mumbling into his ear. “Call it a night?”

Dick sighed into Wally’ s shoulder, turning his head enough that he could see the steady pour out the window. The street lights between the diner, and gas station, and the motel were creating an island of light in the rain, fading out into the wheat fields. Thunder rolled overhead, louder now. “Okay,” Dick yawned again.

The song continued, scratchy and dim over the aged speakers, mingling with the sound of the rain. _“Take my hand, take my whole life too. For I can’t help falling in love with you.”_ Wally hummed along to the tune, the sound quiet and low in his chest. Slowly, Dick began to relax against him. It was a small victory, and one he would never take for granted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	5. No Yellow Bricks To Follow Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your response to the last chapter was overwhelming. Thank you all so much, and I hope this one carries the same energy. I really hope so. My wrist fuckin' hurts.

 

The rain was pouring hard when they ran across the lot from the diner to the motel. Wally swiped Dick’s leather jacket and held it up high over both their heads as they sprinted across the pavement, but still it did little to keep either of them dry. The night was pitch black, the light from the diner windows and the flickering street lamp veiled in the downpour. It was a short distance by all means from diner door to motel lobby, but by the time they stumbled inside, they were both absolutely soaked. Their take out container with the remains of their Sugar Cream Pie was, of course, the only thing that remained even remotely dry, because they obviously had their priorities straight.

To neither’s surprise, it wasn’t very difficult to get a room. There seemed to be a few other travelers taking a break off the interstate because of the weather, but then again the few other cars in that lot were likely just parked there for the diner. After paying for the night, Dick was given their key, complete with their room number tied on by a chain to the end, written in black sharpie on the cape of a Batman toy. Charming, at least, and Dick had to fight just to keep a straight face while Wally turned away and giggled with his fist against his mouth. One glance behind the desk revealed an array of similar keys, all hung up on a board on the wall, strung with various members of the Justice League defaced with black marker.

Thanking the clerk at the front desk despite the bored and mildly annoyed expression they were receiving, Dick took the key and headed toward the hallway they’d been pointed to. As soon as they were around the corner, Dick scowled down at the Kid’s Meal toy dangling from the chain in his hand. He lifted it up with a disdainful pout. “Why did it _have_ to be Batman?” he grumbled.

Wally swiped the toy out of Dick’s hand, taking the key along with it. He grabbed the end with the key, swinging Batman around on the chain in wild circles. “Why, you got something against the Caped Crusader?”

Dick made a face, trying to reach out and grab the key back only for Wally to pull his hand back at the last moment with a click of his tongue. “Not at all,” Dick rolled his eyes. “Just admiring the irony.”

“No idea what you’re talking about, babe,” Wally grinned. They rounded the corner at the end of the hall, stopping in a little dead end corridor. Wally caught the Batman figurine mid swing in his opposite hand, reading the little number scribbled onto the back before heading over to the matching door. The lock was more than a bit stiff, and it took Wally more effort than he should have to finally jiggle it open. Dick was absolutely no help, choosing instead to stand back against the wall with his arms crossed, snickering like a jackass. With a glare over his shoulder once he’d managed to force the key to turn, Wally opened the door and headed inside.

It was a motel room. There wasn’t really much more to say than that. No shocks, no surprises. The carpet was a musty yellow colour, the wallpaper was floral and cracked, and the furniture hadn’t been updated in decades. However, the bedding was clean, there was no sign of bug infestation, and the entire room smelled faintly of disinfectant, so all in all it was almost better than Wally had expected for an interstate motel in the middle of rural Indiana. He kicked off his shoes at the door, leaving Dick to do the same as he walked over to the little TV stand opposite the bed. There was a remote on the table next to a little laminated sheet of channels, but one click of the power button confirmed that it didn’t work. The TV itself had a _dial_ to change the channels.

“I’m becoming more and more convinced that this entire lot is a time warp,” Wally commented as he tossed the remote back onto the table and continued to survey the room.

Though his back was turned to him, Wally just barely caught the reflection of Dick pushing his hand back through his soaking wet hair in the reflection of the window as he pulled the curtain back. “Shit,” Dick cursed.

Wally looked back at him, raising a brow. “I mean, I wasn’t being serious, but now I’m kinda nervous.”

Sparing only an eye roll, Dick joined Wally at the window. “We left our bags out in the car,” he said despairingly as he looked out into the rain. They could barely see the car across the lot, the light of the dinner and the dim streetlight just catching the silver outline.

Wally shrugged and let go of the curtain, letting it fall over the window. “We don’t need anything from them right away,” he said. “We can change and everything in the morning. No sense in running back out there.”

“Alright,” Dick gave in, “but I’m warning you now, you’re going to have to deal with me leeching your heat all night.”

Dick’s constant need for warmth often manifested in a) sleeping in a million layers or b) sprawling over Wally in the middle of the night. Wally was just glad to see that his complete disregard for personal boundaries in sleep hadn’t changed. “Oh no, I don’t know how I’ll cope,” he said with a heavy sigh.

“It’s your cross to bear,” Dick replied with an equally dramatic sigh as he fell backwards onto the bed. The mattress squeaked and groaned with an almost alarming volume, and Wally could have sworn he saw a slight wince flash across Dick’s face. No doubt an unexpected spring digging into his back.

Wally found himself smiling as he rounded to the other side of the bed and leaned over so that he was facing Dick ‘up side down’. He rested his elbows on either side of Dick’s head, smile blooming into a grin when Dick gave him that oh-so familiar mock _‘what’re you lookin’ at’_ glare. “I’m gonna hop in the shower,” he said.

“What’s the point? You’re already soaked,” Dick laughed. Surely enough, there were already drops of rainwater dripping from Wally’s hair and onto Dick’s face.

Wally hummed under his breath, brushing his fingers over either side of Dick’s cheeks to wipe the water off. “Hm, ‘fraid it’s not the same,” he retorted. Leaning down, he angled his neck just enough to kiss Dick, warmth trickling into his chest when Dick tilted his head into it. He broke the kiss but didn’t pull away, their lips just barely brushing as he spoke. “I mean, unless you have something _better_ in mind,” he breathed.

Dick laughed, low and deep in his chest. “No, you’d better take the shower. You’re starting to smell like wet dog.”

Deeming no other appropriate response, Wally gave Dick a wild grin and no other warning before shaking his head and sending water flying everywhere.

Dick sputtered, shoving his palm in Wally’s face to push him off as he shouted in protest. “Oh, fuck off!”

Wally stood upright, smoothing his hand back through his hair, plastered against his forehead. Rolling over on the bed, Dick pushed himself up, braced on his hands as he shot visual daggers at Wally for his ruthless assault. Wally, just to get a rile out of him, fired back with a two fingered salute before turning leisurely and heading into the bathroom.

The size of the bathroom was hardly shocking, but that didn’t make it any easier to maneuver. It essentially had the same dimensions of a broom closet, with the toilet so crammed that it’s user was in danger of getting a black eye in the door was opened during occupation. All Wally could picture as he stepped under the stream of hot water was the shower scene from Psycho - the not at all helped by the fact that they were currently in a decrepit motel. It was honestly more amusing than anything. He was _fairly_ certain that he wasn’t about to be stabbed to death, naked and wet in the shower, but determined as he squeezed a dollop of cheap shampoo into his palm that it would be a very, very sexy way to go.

The amenities didn’t go much further beyond dollar store bottles of shampoo and conditioner and a bar of green soap, so Wally didn’t spend too much time in the shower. He emerged from the steam clouded bathroom several minutes later, having thrown his boxers back on, and ran a towel through his hair. The storm was picking up outside, thunder rolling overhead with occasional lightning flashing through the curtains. When he stepped out, he noticed that Dick was talking to someone on his Holocomp, a screen projected up from the watch on his wrist.

“Yeah, I’ll look into it when I get the chance, I’m just - out of town at the moment,” Dick spoke to the projection.

From what little of it Wally could see at that angle, it looked like some kind of video call. The image was distorted and thin from where he stood, but he could hear the voice on the other end loud and clear. “No problem. Send the files Ollie’s way when you can. I’m not on this case, but I told him I’d ask you about it.”

Dick nodded. “Turf Wars on opposite coasts aren’t exactly common, but if it’s about monopolizing shipments, Gotham’s a likely Port. I’ll see what I can do. Not on this case, though, huh?”

“Nah,” the deep and familiar voice on the other end replied with a chuckle. “The sting clashes with Lian’s first ballet class.”

Wally didn’t really think anything of it as he crossed the room, draping the towel over the back of his neck. He headed to the table where Dick had set down the leftover pie, popping open the styrofoam and digging the end of a plastic fork into the crust. “Is that Roy?” he asked.

Dick stopped. Eyes wide, his gaze darted over his shoulder to Wally. Thinking quick, his turned his body so that Wally was no longer in the frame of his own projection in the corner of the screen. He stared up at the red head, mouthing _‘what the hell?’._

The voice projected from the watch again. “Dick? Is there someone else there?”

Frowning in confusion, Wally wracked his mind for a plausible cause for Dick’s reaction. “I mean, Will?” It took all of another two seconds of Dick staring at him incredulously for it to finally sink in. Right. Dead. “Oh, shit!”

“Dick, who was that?”

Dick swallowed back a curse, struggling to recover the situation. “Uh, sorry, just a second, man,” he stammered out, turning his attention back down to the projection.

Wally quickly stumbled to the end of the bed. Dick now had his back against the headboard, so he was safe from the view of the Holocomp, but from that vantage point the interface of the holograph was clear, if not flipped. The man on the hovering screen was older, or at least the thick ginger beard made it look that way. Still, there was no denying that it was Roy - Will. One of his best friends. Who still thought he was dead.

Will’s voice grew louder, more firm and at the same time almost apprehensive, an edge of fear in his tone. “ _Dick_ , who the hell was that?” he repeated with more force.

Dick’s eyes narrowed at Wally. From Will’s point of view it just looked like Dick was glaring something behind the Holocomp, something just out of view - which, no doubt, wasn’t helping Will’s confusion. Wally cringed, struggling to defend himself as he mouthed _‘I didn’t know!’_ with a wide shrugging gesture.

Dick’s expression only tightened. _‘You didn’t think!’_

_‘I forgot!’_

_‘How the hell do you forget that you were dead?!’_

_‘Technically I wasn’t!’_

_‘He doesn’t know that!’_

_‘It was an accident!’_

Will had just about had it with the one-sided silent conversation at that point. “Dick, I swear to God, if you don’t tell me what’s going on right now-”

“Okay, I just - look, I said give me a second,” Dick stuttered in an attempt to placate Will’s rising anger. Their eyes met again. Wally groaned, both hands carding back through his hair and coming down on the back of his neck as he sighed and finally just gave Dick a nod. Dick hesitated only a moment, mouthing one last _‘Are you sure?’_. When Wally nodded, it was Dick’s turn to groan, putting his hand up to his face for a moment as he tried to regain his composure. “Alright,” he exhaled slowly. “You’re not gonna believe me at first, and this isn’t how I wanted to tell you, but I swear to you that this is real, okay?”

Wally took his cue. Moving slowly around the bed, he sat down at the edge of the mattress and leaned into the frame as Dick shifted to accommodate him. He watched as on the projection, his mirror image moved into the corner of the screen, while the rest was taken up by Will, staring back at him with wide eyes and all colour vanished from his face. Wally ducked his head, raising his hand into frame. “Hey, dude,” was all he could think to say. It was a long, tense minute of silence before Will, exhaled all at once, rough and rattling in his chest as he scrubbed his hand over his mouth. Another deep breath through his nose and out again. Wally could practically see him processing this, or struggling to. Finally, Will tore his gaze away from Wally to look at Dick.

“You swear.”

Though stiff and still wary of Will’s reaction, Dick nodded. “On my parents’ graves.”

Silence again. Through the interface and across a thousand miles, the two men watched each other. Wally’s awkward and slightly embarrassed demeanor slowly relaxed, allowing him to be earnest as he faced one of his best friends. Dick’s words seemed to be enough for Will, understanding the gravity of that vow.

When Will finally spoke, his voice was rough with emotion. “West, you stupid Son of a Bitch.”

Insane as it was, Wally couldn’t stop himself from laughing, dropping his head as his shoulders shook with the effort to hold it back. “Yeah... guess I deserve that.”

“Fuck,” Will choked out in a laugh. He shook his head, never tearing his eyes away from the screen. “I don’t... how?”

“It’s a long... _really_ long story,” Dick replied, sparing a glance at Wally. “The basics are that he wasn’t dead, just sort of... lost. I’ll explain everything later, but if you want, you can talk to M’gann, and-”

“Wait,” Will cut him off, waving his hand sharply through the air. “M’gann knows?” Neither Dick nor Wally answered fast enough for his liking. He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in his chair. “Who else knew before I did?”

Dick cringed. “Well... my family knows, because Bruce and Tim were there when we... found Wally. Barry and Bart, too. Then Barry told Iris, and last week we, uh... told the old Team.”

Will’s jaw tightened, and though he pulled of fury well, they both knew he wasn’t as mad as he had every right to be. Fatherhood had evidently mellowed out his temper. “So, everyone but me? When exactly were you planning to tell me, huh?”

“It’s not like that,” Wally was quick to interject. “I wanted to start off small, y’know? Ease myself back into the world. And it’s not that they were less important or anything, but it was easier to tell them all at once. I just...” he blew out a short breath before plucking up the courage to say what he needed to. “I wanted to tell you apart from them. You’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to a brother, man. I needed to see you in private, y’know?” Wally grinned. “Fewer witnesses in case we accidentally show emotion. This,” he gestured to the Holocomp, “wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

“We’re on our way to tell his parents. They don’t know yet,” Dick added.

Wally shifted at that, guilt biting at the back of his neck. “Yeah,” he sighed as he leaned back against the headboard.

“You weren’t kidding about taking it slow,” Will shook his head. From behind him, Wally could just barely see what looked like a door opening down a short hall. The top of a little head of black hair walking out was just barely visible in the screen. Will didn’t seem to have noticed. “I just can’t... holy fuck.”

“Uh, I think you’ve got company there, _Dad_ ,” Wally smirked.

Will tensed and sputtered, turning in his chair as the little head stopped beside what Wally assumed was the computer desk. “Lian!” he grunted, leaning down out of frame for a moment as he lifted a toddler into his lap. “You’re supposed to be asleep, baby girl.” Lian didn’t seem to agree entirely, but there was no doubt that she was tired as she leaned against her father’s chest, chewing on the edge of her pale green blanket. In appearance, she definitely took after her mother, but there was no mistaking the light dusting of freckles across her nose and her vibrant green eyes. Will held her close, rubbing circles over her back as he pointed at the screen. “Look, it’s Uncle Dick. Can you say hi?”

Lian yawned, snuggling further against her father with a small wave. “Hi...”

Dick smiled, waving back. “Hey, sweetheart. What’re you doing up?”

“Wanna see Di too,” Lian answered, her words still just barely articulate.

Will chuckled under his breath, kissing the top of her head. “She probably heard me talking to you and didn’t want to miss out,” he said as he ducked his head down and pointed to the screen again. “Lian, that’s your...” he cleared his throat to keep his voice from breaking, “your Uncle Wally. He’s Daddy’s friend, like Uncle Dick. I haven’t seen him in a long, long time.”

Lian stared back at the image of Dick and Wally on the screen for a long while. Wally couldn’t really think of what to say - he’d known, back before the Invasion, that “Roy” had recently found out about his daughter with Jade, had even met her a few times as an infant. He knew that Will was a father. It was another think entirely, however, to actually see him being a Dad. Lian had grown _so much_ and it really put into perspective what a difference two years could make. Lian only waved at Wally, yawning again as she turned and nuzzled her face into Will’s shoulder.

“Looks like your time’s about up,” Dick smiled.

Will shifted Lian in his arms, the toddler growing more and more limp with sleep by the second. “Yeah, well, she’s the boss,” he grunted.

“Ro- Will, sorry,” Wally laughed. “Listen, we’re gonna be with my family in Central and Keystone for the next week or so. Why don’t you come over? Then you can chew me out in person.” The fact that Wally both wanted to explain everything in better detail and needed to see him went unsaid and understood.

“I’ll think about it,” Will replied. “Lian likes playing with the twins anyway.” For another long moment, Will was quiet, just starting back at Wally’s image like he was still expecting it to flicker out of existence. He then dropped his head, shaking it slightly, as his shoulders rose and lifted with a heavy sigh. “God...” he chuckled, still evidently caught in disbelief - and evidently trying not to swear in front of his daughter. “I don’t even know what to say to you two. Goodnight, I guess.”

“G’night, dude,” Wally replied, watching with a smile as Will shut off the connection, still shaking his head and mumbling to himself. With the ordeal over, Wally sighed, sinking back against the headboard. The rain pelting against the window suddenly seemed a lot louder.

Dick dropped his arm, the holograph disappearing. He flopped sideways, draping himself over Wally’s lap. Beaming down at him, Wally carded his fingers through Dick’s dark hair, putting up absolutely no fight at being used as a pillow. He was still warm from the shower, and Dick was fully content with taking advantage of that. “Well,” Dick yawned, stretching a bit over Wally’s bare legs, “it sure was nice having you back while it lasted.”

“While it lasted?” Wally repeated with a low snicker.

“Mhm,” Dick replied as he went lax again, eyes heavy, blinking slowly as he smiled up at Wally. “Will’s gonna kill you when he sees you.”

Wally scoffed. “I’m not scared of him.”

“Liar.”

Wally bent his legs, drawing them closer and sending Dick rolling off his lap and onto the mattress. Laughing loud as he tumbled, Dick grabbed the closest pillow and used it to smack against the side of Wally’s head. Too busy laughing, Wally’s reflexes weren’t enough to shield him from the blow, sending him nearly toppling off the bed. He retaliated, diving toward Dick and tackling him onto the bed. Dick put up no fight, shouting as he was slammed back against the mattress with an incredibly smug looking Speedster settling on top of him. Grin widening, Wally leaned down in an attempt to kiss Dick - an attempt that was thwarted by Dick turning his head at the last moment. Wally tried again, going for his cheek, but Dick turned his head again. After several more failed attempts, Dick trying his hardest to hold his scowl, Wally managed to plant a sloppy one on him. Dick made a loud, disgusted noise, wriggling his way out of Wally’s hold. Didn’t matter, though - Wally had already won by his books.

Things calmed down for the night. The storm raged on. Thunder rolled through the heavy clouds, rattling the walls of their motel room - but it was still dry and warm inside, so they paid it no mind. They both ended up in bed, shedding their clothes and setting them out to dry off, draped over the coat rack and the arm chair and any other surface they could use. That left them both sleeping in their boxers and, true to form, Dick was latched onto his side within minutes of them both crawling under the covers.

Wally wasn’t sure when he’d fallen asleep. Somewhere between the gentle evening out of Dick’s breath against his skin and the swirling white torment, he found himself engulfed in a chaotic void. He could feel himself screaming in his head, throat filleting shrieks, but nothing came out. There was no sound and no light, and yet at the same time too much noise to think and so bright he couldn’t see a thing. No sensation, and yet he felt agony, like he’d been caught in the exact moment that final surge in the Arctic lashed out and hit his body, hanging there in suspension for years.

In reality, he’d only started twitching in his sleep. A tight grimace on his face, a slight hitch in his breath, was all that changed. A loud crack of thunder shook him from his sleep with a short gasp. His eyes flew opened, blinking to adjust to the dark. With his heart hammering in his chest, it took until the following lightning lit up the room for Wally to remember where he was. The tension drained from him. Dick was still asleep, head on his chest, arm draped over his waist as he lay half on top of him. Wally groaned, hand reaching up to scrub down his face. His other arm was still trapped under Dick and starting to go a bit numb.

Moving as carefully as he could so as not to wake his partner, Wally untangled himself from Dick’s hold. He sat upright, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. His heart still wouldn’t slow down. Wally leaned over, elbows on his knees and head in his hands as he tried to calm down. From the corner of his vision, the analog alarm clock blared its angry red numbers at him through the dark: _1:28am._

The thought struck him from out of nowhere. Whether it’d been festering inside him for this entire trip, or it’d just come to mind of its own accord, he didn’t know, but Wally knew one thing - by the end of the day, his parents would know that he was alive. By the end of the day, he will have crawled out of the grave he’d unknowingly thrown himself into two years ago. All of the hurt he’d caused would finally come to a head. There was too much in that one though to properly process. Wally breathed in through his nose, let it fill his chest, and exhaled with a rough sigh as he dipped his head into his hands again.

Behind him, the mattress shifted.  The springs creaked as Dick stirred, pushing himself up on his elbows and smothering a yawn with the palm of his head. “Walls? You okay?” he asked, sleep weighing heavily on his voice.

“Yeah, yeah, ‘course,” Wally replied. “Just couldn’t sleep is all. I think the storm woke me up.”

Dick hummed under his breath. Before Wally had realized he was moving, he felt Dick press a kiss to the back of his neck, one arm draping over his shoulder while the other looped around his waist. Dick settled his weight against Wally’s back. The moment he felt Dick press his hand over his heart, Wally swore his pulse slowed to a steady thrum. Wally closed his eyes, smiling as he laid his hand over Dick’s and turned his head to look back at him. It was a rare thing to see Dick Grayson sleepy, and a rarer thing still to see him sleepy and so at ease, allowing himself to be soft and vulnerable.

“Mind if I put something on the TV? Just something to fall asleep to,” Wally asked.

With only a hum and a nod response, Dick laid back against the mattress again. Wally stood, padding over to the TV and switching it on. He turned the volume on low before rotating the dial between channels, looking for anything on at this time of night. He’d flipped through a few channels before finally coming to a stop on one that’d caught his eye. The title card for “The Wizard Of Oz” flickered onto the screen in muted sepia tones, the familiar strains of the overture playing low under the sound of the rain. Settling on the movie, Wally crawled back into bed. Dick had sprawled himself over him and fallen asleep within minutes.

Wally drifted off just as the tornado uprooted Dorothy into technicolour.

By morning, the storm had passed. The sky was clear, and the air smelled of wet earth the way it only did after rain. Dick and Wally woke up early, throwing on their old clothes so that they could amble out to the car to get fresh outfits from their bags. Dick took his turn in the shower while Wally changed and walked across the lot. The diner was open, virtually empty save for the staff. He bought them some breakfast and coffee, and waited out at the car for Dick to join him. As he sipped from his steaming cup, the first hints of dawn began to light up the east with faint blue. The touch of light glistened in the puddles on the concrete, floated in the mist hanging over the wheat fields.

Wally lifted his cup to his lips, taking a slow sip as he leaned back against the hood of the silver Volvo. The sound of a door opening and closing with the dim chime of a bell caught his attention. He looked back over to find Dick walking out the front door of the motel, bag slung over his shoulder and hair still wet from the shower. Reaching onto the hood behind him, Wally picked up the other coffee cup and held it out to Dick.

Dick took the cup with one hand, the other rising up to cover yet another involuntary yawn. However, once Wally’s outstretched hand was empty, he kept it open, turning it palm up with an expectant look. When Dick just frowned back at him, Wally raised a brow, wiggling his fingers with a ‘hand them over’ look. Finally, Dick relented. Rolling his eyes, he reached into his back pocket and tossed Wally the keys to the car. Wally snatched them out of mid-air with a wide grin, stealing a quick kiss before rounding the car to the driver’s seat. Dick slid in beside him after tossing his back into the trunk. Once they were both settled in for the next leg of their trip, Wally slotted the key into the ignition and turned it. The engine roared to life.

“Well,” Wally sighed, as a yellow sliver of sunlight peaked over the horizon, “back on the Yellow Brick Road.” The car pulled out of the lot and onto the road, toward the interstate, heading West.

 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

Wally drove with the windows down. While the day before had been overcast leading up to the rain, that morning there wasn’t a single cloud to be seen. The sky stretched on in vibrant blue in all directions, cutting off at the harsh straight line of flat land. Fields spread out as far as the eye could see, dotted with wind mills, houses, and farmsteads, all trickling toward the towering skyline of Central City. A weatherman during breaks between songs on the radio kept reporting that this week would be the last burst of warmth before the colder days of late October and November came. For now, the air was warm, and Winter seemed ages away.

“All the info I have is on the drive I left you,” Dick spoke into his phone. He had his knees up on the dashboard, folded into his seat with his arm half hanging out the open window. The wind wasn’t too bad, not enough to be a detriment to his call, bu just enough that it tousled his dark hair. “I already told Will I’d send it to Ollie so he can- oh for fuck’s sake Bruce, it _does_ concern him, it’s happening in his city too!” Dick rolled his eyes. “Look, I know it’s going down tonight. You guys can handle it without me. Well, you’ll have to. Talk to you later.” Although Wally could just barely heard Bruce’s frustrated voice still speaking on the other end, Dick hung up and dropped his phone in the cup holder, sinking further into his seat.

“What up?” Wally asked. He’d caught the gist of it from the one side of the conversation that he could heard, but more than anything just figured Dick needed to vent a bit.

And vent he did. Dick righted himself in his seat, sitting upright so that he could stretch a bit. “That operation I took down with Damian last week opened up a whole new can of worms. Bruce wants me in on the sting tonight.”

“Is this what you were talking to Ro- fuck, Will about last night?”

Dick chuckled at the slip up. “Don’t worry, it takes some getting used to.”

Wally pulled a face. “I get his reasoning for changing his name and everything but it’s - I don’t know, it’d be like suddenly calling you John.”

“Whatever you say, _Rudolph_.”

Elbowing Dick in the arm for daring to bring his middle name into this, Wally continued. “So?”

“Yeah,” said Dick. “Seems like that gang is caught in a territorial war across the country. Anything on this scale usually links to human trafficking, and Bruce has been working on a few cases that could be connected. He wants to put an end to it before things get out of hand. Which, to him, means _I_ should drop everything I’m doing at his beck and call,” he added with another severe eye roll.

“So, nothing new,” Wally commented.

“Yeah. Nothing new.”

With their early start that morning, they made good time. They reached Central City by noon, straddling the Missouri-Kansas border. The buildings rose up from the horizon like fake mountains, growing higher and higher until finally Wally turned the car off the interstate and onto an exit ramp. From there, it was just muscle memory. The streets hadn’t changed, Wally could still walk this city blindfolded, but he couldn’t help notice the little differences as he guided the car along the familiar streets. A new building here, a renovation there. The landmarks were all there, but the surrounding details had altered.

Before Bart’s crash landing into the present day, Wally hadn’t visited Central or Keystone in months. After that night, he never went back. Now, driving through the city, it just felt like coming back after another several months away. The fact that he’d been gone not only from this city, but this world, for two years was a distant and inconceivable thought. For a while, he could just pretend that this was another visit. It felt _good_.

By the time the car rolled to a stop in front of Barry’s house in the suburbs closer to the heart of the city, it was just past one in the afternoon. Dick got out with a long stretch, cracking his limbs as Wally slid out on his side and did the same. He’d parked on the street, and as they walked up the paved path to the front porch, the front door was already opening. Barry waited in the threshold, a wide smile on his face, eyes bright and shining as Wally walked up the front steps. He wasted no time in pulling his nephew into a tight hug, holding him just a bit longer than he might have years ago - making up for lost time. Barry had been by the Manor a few times in the past several weeks, checking in on Wally to see how he was adjusting. It was another thing entirely, though, to see him in the Central City sunlight, and Wally knew it.

Barry gave Dick a hug in greeting as well, patting his back before stepping aside to let the two of them in. Wally noticed almost immediately that the house had changed. He shouldn’t have been so surprised, honestly. They’d had kids after all, and the evidence was spilling from the toy box in the corner of the living room and onto the rug. Still seeing the house he’d practically lived in as a teenager suddenly altered, with different flooring and paint on the walls, was a little jarring. He quickly recovered however, kicking off his shoes and stepping aside so that Dick could do the same.

“How was the drive?” Barry asked once they’d settled down in the living room, sitting on the couches with a few sodas and a bowl of chips that Barry had insistently pushed into their hands.

Dick had been checking his phone when Barry spoke, and slipped it into his back pocket in favour of talking to him. “It was fine. We didn’t hit any traffic, and it was mostly uneventful until that storm last night. Wally made a good call, suggesting we turn in. It got pretty nasty.”

“Hey, of course it was a good call. I have good ideas sometimes,” Wally retorted as he cracked the tab back on his soda and took a long swing.

Dick snickered. “Yeah. Sometimes.”

Wally nearly blew his soda out of his mouth, and had to swallow threw a few rough coughs just to keep from snorting it out his nose. He answered back with a nudge at Dick’s shoulder, their little back and forth teasing growing more natural and easy by the day - for better or worse.

More than used to their old antics, and more than fucking _thrilled_ to see it again, Barry laughed with them. “Well, better safe than sorry. It didn’t put us behind anyway. The plan’s still the same. Iris and I are going over to your Mom’s place this evening. It’s just going to be us, your Mom, and your Dad. We got them together on the pretense of wanting to talk, so they probably know that something’s up.”

“Where’s Iris now?” Dick asked.

Barry shrugged. “She had to go out to film a cover story this morning, but she’ll be back before it’s time to head over.” With that, he turned to Wally, leaning forward with his hands clasped between his knees. “We’ll do this however you want to, Kid,” he said with a slight tug at the corner of his lips, suggesting he still wasn’t going to let that nickname go. “It’s up to you.”

Wally tapped his fingers against his can as he thought. “I mean, I don’t think it’ll be a good idea to just ring the doorbell,” he said with a nervous laugh. “It’ll probably be best for you and Iris to talk to them first, lay everything out, y’know? I can wait outside. Then, when they’re ready, I’ll come in. That’s good, right? That sounds fair?”

“It’s more than fair,” Dick replied, resting his hand on Wally’s knee with a squeeze. “ Best to just ease them into it. I’ll wait outside with you while they talk inside...” he faded off, annoyance washing over his expression as his phone vibrated in his pocket again.

Raising his brow, Wally shot Dick a questioning look. “Bruce again?”

“Probably,” Dick grumbled under his breath.

Nodding slowly, Wally chewed the inside of his lip for a moment. “Listen, Dick... why don’t you just go help?” When Dick’s brows rose up and he regarded him in shock, Wally just shrugged and continued. “It sounds like a big deal, and you know that Bruce wouldn’t be asking for your help unless he really needed it.”

“Wally, this is more important,” Dick insisted. “Bruce can handle it fine without me.”

“You’re the only one who’s seen these guys taken down before. You know their faces and how they work,” Wally pressed. “Babe, it’s okay.”

Dick’s expression skewed, glaring down at the floor before finally deflating. “I’ll only go back for a few hours. Give Bruce the evidence he needs to take the whole operation down, and then I’m done, I won’t stay for the sting. I’ll be back in plenty of time before we meet your parents.”

“Damn right you will be,” Wally fired back with a grin. “There’s no way in hell I’m doing this on my own. You get your perfect ass back here by 6pm, got that?”

Huffing out a laugh, Dick raised two fingers to his said in a mock-Wally-mock-salute. Wally just scoffed, unable to keep from laughing softly in return as Dick leaned forward to steal a quick kiss. With that, Dick stood, checking his phone before heading back toward the door. “Does Mary still live in the old house?” he asked Barry as he pulled his shoes back on.

“Yeah, she got the house in the split. Rudolph ended up moving further out at the edge of Keystone,” Barry answered.

Dick stood upright, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “Alright. I’ll use the Central Zeta Tube and head back to Gotham. When I come back, I’ll come through the Keystone tube by the old house. Wally, I’ll leave you the car. Once you pick me up, we can head over.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Wally said.

Hand hovering on the doorknob, Dick spared one more look over his shoulder at Wally. “Are you sure?”

“Get outta here,” Wally laughed. “It’s fine, do what you gotta do. I’m just gonna wind down a bit before we go anyway, you won’t be missing much.”

Still seeming unsure, Dick nonetheless nodded and opened the door, heading out into the afternoon sunlight. Wally could see him out the window, hands in his jacket pockets, as he headed up the block to the nearest Zeta.

Barry had to leave about an hour later to pick up the twins from daycare, an alert from his phone that left him scrambling to get out the door. It was another odd moment for Wally, watching more than amused as Barry tore up the kitchen and living room looking for his keys. Like the night before, when he’d watched Will with Lian, he saw Barry as a father for the first time - and the kids weren’t even in the room. Telling Wally to make himself at home, as if he hadn’t thought of this house as more of a home than his own during his teenage years, he headed out the door. When the laughter died and the sound of the car pulling out of the driveway faded, Wally was alone in the house.

He only lasted another hour. In that time, he’d finished the snack Barry had put out, flipped through the channels (with a real remote, thank God),, and just generally tried to distract himself. However, the hour hand on the clock on the wall was inching around at a snail’s pace, and at the same time far too fast to handle. He found himself just laying across the couch, trying to resist the urge to look at every inch of the house, every picture on the wall, every little change, like it could give him some insight into what he’d missed. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. The last thing he should have wanted was to get back in the car after essentially spending the past day and a half stuffed inside it, but he needed to get out. So, figuring he’d just leave for Keystone early and drive around for a bit, he took the keys and headed out.

Wally just needed to clear his head. He’d spoken about easing his parents into the fact that he was alive. Maybe all he needed was to ease himself into this as well. Wally hadn’t bothered to get his driver’s license until he knew that he was moving to California, and so had never spent much time actually driving in Keystone, but it didn’t matter. Just as he did with the city, he knew the streets by heart. So, Wally drove out of Central. If it weren’t for the signs stuck on the side of the busy roads, no one would be able to tell that they were crossing from Missouri into Kansas. However, as the city suburbs bled into more quaint neighborhoods, more vacant lots and corner stores, Wally knew he was back in Keystone. Back in Kansas. The towers of Central City shrunk back into the skyline he knew so well as he drove further West.

But it wasn’t the Keystone he remembered. The differences he’d noticed when driving into Central had been apparent, but not as jarring. It wasn’t even that the town had changed all that drastically. He just noticed every minute detail with that much more clarify because this was _his_ town. Wally drove by his old High School, and saw that the ugly white Portables taking up half the school yard had been replaced with a brand new wing. The salon his Mom used to drag him to while she got her hair done, where he’d play Lego just to kill time, had been turned into a pawn shop. Dorothy’s Candy was closed, the windows boarded up and the neon lights stripped from the walls, leaving stains on the concrete in the shapes of UFOs and planets and stars.

The shape and the size of the town was the same. It was still Keystone, and much of it hadn’t changed, but Wally found himself overwhelmed with the things that did.

Before long, Wally found himself taking the route to the far end of town, where the suburbs ended and stretched on into open fields and rural lands. There was more space to breathe out here. He remembered, with a detached fondness, taking this road out to his grandparent’s house when he was a kid. He remembered Sunday dinners after church, playing outside until the fireflies came out, getting lost in the fields when the crops grew so high they loomed over his head, falling asleep on the sofa in the basement watching “The Wizard of Oz”. His grandpa had passed away long before Wally even left for California. The homestead had been sold off years ago. But at least that was a place Wally had been used to visiting only in memories before.

He thought about driving past the old farm to see if anyone was living there now, but took another road instead. Nowhere in mind, no destination, just driving for the sake of it. However, when Wally realized he was driving past his family’s old church, he couldn’t help but let the car roll to a stop outside the little white steeple. Despite his parents’ best efforts, Wally had never been religious, and being dragged out to Sunday mass had always been a chore. In later years, with the things he sometimes heard spewed from the pulpit, it had been torture. Not all bad, some sermons had been focused on love and loyalty and charity, all things he could objectively get behind. But he had no real connection to the church. It wasn’t the church that made him stop. It was the cemetery in the rolling grass behind it. Wally recalled the picture he’d seen on his mother’s profile, the picture of the headstone with his name on it. Wally’s grave sat in that little field, surrounded by a white picket fence.

The sound of a lawnmower starting up broke Wally from his trance. He shook his head, blinked, tried to sort out his thoughts, but never had the chance. A man just up the street stood behind his lawnmower, shouting in frustration when it puttered out and died. Wally couldn’t help but look a little closer, watching as the man kicked the side and pulled the cord again until the machine roared to life once more. When he stood upright and began to push the lawnmower over the grass, Wally felt his heart seize in his chest.

His father looked the same, but - older. Even from this distance he could tell, could see the faint hint of grey in his hair and his mustache. He was mowing the lawn of a small house at the edge of a field, covered in whitewashed paneling. It couldn’t have been more than a two bedroom, and even that was being generous. Rudolph West worked his way to the end of the lawn before turning and walking back in a meticulous row. He waved to his neighbor as she pulled into her driveway, pausing for a bit of small talk over the hedge separating their properties. At last, as if sensing for the first time that he was being watched, Rudolph turned and looked toward Wally’s car.

Wally snapped his head forward. Barely resisting the urge to slam on the gas pedal, he drove away. Wally drove, and drove, chasing the waning afternoon light as if he could make it stay longer, grab the gold by its rays and pull it back into the sky. Everything was moving on. Everyone was moving on. It was all moving too fast. For once in his life he just wanted things to _slow down._

He didn’t stop until he was out of town. Until he was surrounded by nothing but fields and he could barely see the skyline of Central City over the tops of the untitled fields. The moment the car stopped, Wally threw it in park and ripped the keys out. He opened the door and stepped out into the dusk air, quickly cooling down as night approached. The sky was dark in the East, but Westward was still holding onto daylight and brilliant colour staining the clouds.

Wally realized, for the first time, that he felt he’d been left behind. In the blink of an eye, the world had changed. It had continued on without him, and these feelings of loss were now boiling to the surface. Wally needed to breathe, to slow down-

No. The thought came to him with a rush of calm and clarity. The world didn’t need to slow down. He needed to catch up.

Wally stretched one leg out behind him in a starting stance, leaning down low against the cool evening breeze. He wasn’t sure what he was thinking to be honest. He hadn’t done this since he’d come back. But it had always helped to clear his mind in the past, and he just - he needed to see if he could still do it. Wally inhaled, let it fill his chest, and breathed out slowly. His focus narrowed down to a single point. Raw energy built up inside his body, ready to go off like a canon.

Wally took off running into the fields.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	6. There's No Place Like Home

 

Instantaneous transportation had never felt so slow. Dick’s finger slipped about three times trying to input his target into the Zeta Tube system, cursing under his breath as he repeatedly cleared the data and tried again. He was about ready to punch a hole in the damn control panel by the time he finally managed to get it right.

_Recognized. Nightwing. B01._

“Fucking finally,” he grumbled as the sensation of weightlessness engulfed him in swirling white light.

Upon arriving back in Gotham, stepping through the Zeta port and into the Batcave, Dick got started on just what he’d come there to do. He made no attempt at hiding his annoyance when Bruce first tried to greet him, but eventually relented. It was an important case, a lot of people could be saved if they got it right, and a cross-country competition could be corrupted.... well, before it got out of hand. He’d run out of C’s at that point as he spoke to  Bruce, earning himself an eye roll from the older Vigilante. It was a small win, but he’d take it. Dick spent a few hours going through background checks, inventory stolen, possible victims, and everything he’d gained from his bust the week prior, building up a substantial enough case for them to work with.

Bruce had tried to convince him to stay again, to help with the sting. Green Arrow would be working a similar bust to the other combatants on the West Coast that night, taking everything down in one fell swoop so to say. But, Dick remained firm in his conviction. He wasn’t worried about his family being able to handle themselves. It would be beneficial to have an extra body, but not necessary. Wally needed him. At that, Bruce had finally relented, telling Dick he hoped everything went well tonight, and leaving it at that.

So, as much as he’d like to for the hassle of dragging himself back to Gotham, he couldn’t blame Bruce for his being late. No, that was completely on him. He honestly might have made it on time if he hadn’t run back to his apartment first. There was something he’d left behind there, something he’d been meaning to take care of for a while but didn’t have the guts. So, after heading across the river to Bludhaven to stop at his place, he raced to the nearby Zeta port. Which was where, of course, he was so rushed and out of breath he nearly sent himself to Key West instead of Keystone.

It was twenty after six with the time difference once he stepped out of the familiar Keystone port. He didn’t think he’d be this late when he made the stop. Wally would have every right to be pissed at him, even if he was the one who convinced him to go. And even if Wally wasn’t upset, it didn’t matter. This was _important_. Wally needed his support now more than ever, and Dick was _late_. Groaning under his breath as he stumbled out of the port, disguised as an abandoned news stand in a hidden alley, Dick jogged out to the exit. He came to a stop on the street, expecting to be met with the car idling on the side of the road, and a rightfully annoyed Wally waiting for him.

But the street was empty. Or, it wasn’t empty; there were cars passing along the road and pedestrians walking up and down the street, taking in the unseasonably mild weather for Autumn - but Wally wasn’t there. Dick looked each way, up and down the street, searching for the familiar silver car, or a shock of red hair among the sparse crowds, but he found nothing. Dick frowned, reaching into his back pocket for his phone and pulling up Wally’s contact. He noticed, with a sort of bittersweet pang, that the contact of his old phone was there, just under his new one. The newer of the two had a blank contact photo, but the old one still had a picture he’d taken of Wally their first time at the Happy Harbour Summer Fair, face stuffed with cotton candy. He’d never had the heart to delete it.

Shaking himself out of that reverie, Dick tapped the new contact and texted Wally.

_Hey, I’m here. DG_

_Where are you? DG_

Well, at least he wasn’t the only one running late, or so he tried to convince himself. Dick slipped his phone back into his pocket, zipping his leather jacket up a bit higher as a cooler gust of wind rushed between the tall buildings. He shifted over off the middle of the pavement, opting to lean back against the wall of a nearby building. He hadn’t waited for more than a minute before he took his phone out again, making sure that it wasn’t on silent. Still, no reply from Wally.

_You remembered I was coming back through Keystone and not Central City, right? DG_

_I’m waiting by the port there. DG_

Again, a minute passed, and Wally hadn’t even opened the texts yet. It occurred to him that that maybe he was just driving and didn’t want to reach for his phone. Both Barry and Wally were known for being chronically late, the irony not lost on anyone in the League. He could just be stuck in traffic, or running behind and trying to rush there. With that thought, Dick hit Call on his contact, figuring that Wally could at least use the car speaker if he didn’t want to use his phone. Relaxing back against the Wally, Dick let his head tip back. He stared up at the darkening sky as he listened to the dial tone repeat over and over. And over. Just as he’d started to tap his foot impatiently against the sidewalk, the call cut off to an electronic voice asking him to leave a voicemail. Dick huffed in mounting frustration, pushing his hand back through his hair.

“Walls, hey, it’s me,” he sighed after the tone. With a cursory glance at the few pedestrians passing him by, he figured it was safest to keep his details vague. “Where are you? I just got back. I’m waiting by, uh, Dorothy’s Candy...” he said, glancing across the street to where the familiar landmark should have been. It was with a disappointed shock that he realized the place was boarded up, signs advertising the space for lease plastered to the windows. “Oh, never mind I guess. Did you see that it closed down? Anyway, I’m here. Just let me know that you’re on your way, babe. See you in a bit.”

Another ten minutes. Dick checked his phone like mad, anxiety growing by the minute. He hadn’t been _that_ late, had he? Wally’d asked him for be back by six, and he had only been twenty minutes late. They were going to have to wait outside while Barry and Iris explained the situation to Wally’s parents anyway, and even if he’d put that back by a bit, it wasn’t a big deal, right?

But then there was that little voice gnawing at the back of Dick’s neck, teeth grating against his skull where it met his spine, telling him that it _was_ a big deal. Dick’s choice to stay in the game, to continue with the Hero life while Wally retired, had put a wedge in their relationship more than once in the past. Nine times out of then, when they’d argued about anything, it had been about that. More times than he was proud of, Dick had forgotten dates, canceled plans, or got so wrapped up in a case or a mission that Wally was left ignored. What if Wally had seen this as nothing changed, as their relationship getting sucked right back into that old cycle? What if it’d been his wake up call that they were doomed? God, Dick knew he was thinking too much into this, that he was getting himself worked up over nothing, but then one thought shut him down completely.

What if Wally had gone to meet his parents without him? Decided that he didn’t need him after all?

Ice dripped down from his head and flooded his chest. Hands just short of shaking, Dick pulled up Barry’s number and called him. Barry picked up after the first two rings.

“Di-”

“Barry, is Wally already there?” Dick asked in a rush. “I was running late. It didn’t happen already, did it?”

“What? Dick, Wally isn’t here,” Barry answered in clear confusion. “Where are you two? Iris and I are stalling all we can. It’s not bad, Mary and Rudolph are civil and everything, but... you know, it’s awkward.”

Dick frowned, pushing off the wall with his foot. “Barry, I’ve been waiting here for ten minutes already. I was afraid he’d left without me.”

“I had to leave to pick up the twins not long after you left. When I got back, Wally was gone and so was the car...”

Dick’s chest tightened. It took him a moment to compose himself enough to reply. “I’ll find him.”

“Bart’s here. Came along so he could entertain the twins while we spoke to Mary and Rudolph. He and I can head out to help look for him”

“No, you stay there,” Dick insisted, already walking up the street. “I don’t want them getting suspicious. I’m sure he just got cold feet. I’ll text you as soon as I find him, alright?”

Barry seemed to hesitate a moment before finally giving in. “Alright.”

The moment the call ended, Dick pulled the phone down from his ear and scrolled the apps, stopping at a little icon with a cartoon sun on it. He tapped it, typing in a code in the search bar that came up. Once his pin was accepted, a whole new interface came over the screen. The access to the Batcave computer had been disguised as a weather app. Typing furiously as he walked up the street, Dick brought up a GPS tracker on Bruce’s car. He’d honestly debated putting a similar device in Wally’s phone before he gave it to him, but had decided against it, not knowing how Wally would feel about it even if it was just for emergencies. Privacy or not, Dick was strongly regretting that decision. At the very least, he could find Wally could the car.

The GPS honed in on the tracker’s location, showing it on a map with a blinking light. It wasn’t moving, sitting idle on a road just west of Keystone. So far as Dick could tell, it looked like a fairly rural area, with not much around it showing up on the map. Looking up from his phone, Dick stopped at the taxi stand, calling a car and slipping into the back. He gave the driver the address of what looked to be a gas station just down the road from the car’s location, under the pretense of helping a friend change a tire. Maybe he was just being paranoid, but he didn’t want any suspicion.

It was almost completely dark by the time Dick paid the cab driver and stepped out. To his dismay, the gas station looked like it’d been closed for years, and there wasn’t a car inside. He could all but physically feel the driver’s gaze on him, but when Dick played it off, waving in thanks before heading toward the back of the crumbling building, he didn’t care enough to ask any questions. Dick waited around back, between a rusted car and a stack of overturned crates, until he saw the cab disappear up the road. He was completely surrounded by fields out here, still tall and swaying in the evening breeze. Pulling out his phone again, Dick determined the direction he needed and started walking.

The crickets were chirping in the fields. Wind rattled through the crops. The ambiance only made the total silence out there that much more potent. Dick could almost hear his heart beat in his ears, and every forced, even breath. He didn’t allow himself to imagine what Wally was doing all the way out here. Any possibilities that came to mind were promptly pushed down. Dick just focused on the crunch of the dirt and gravel beneath his shoes as he walked along the side of the road at late dusk. Finally, his location and the location of the car were indistinguishable from one another. Dick walked around a bend in the road, and saw the car sitting off to the side, lights dark, and - empty.

The car was empty. Even from that distance, Dick could see that Wally wasn’t in the car, wasn’t even anywhere near it. He stopped for a moment, suddenly all too aware of the dropping temperature with the coming night. With an unsteady step, he pushed forward, until he was running to the car. He cupped his hands over his face and peered inside - Wally wasn’t laying across the seats either, a sort of last ditch hope. There were no signs of a struggle, the keys weren’t left in the ignition, Wally’s phone wasn’t there.

Dick pushed off the car window, turning in a wide circle as he gaze out over the surrounding fields. He forced himself to stay calm, easier said than done with his heart pumping so hard he could feel it in his throat. Ripping out his phone from his pocket once more, Dick tried to call Wally again, pacing in the dirt beside the car. In all honesty, he didn’t expect him to pick up - so when he did, his knees buckled.

There was a moment of silence on the other end, filled only with heavy breathing. “Dick...” Wally’s voice was hoarse and heavy.

“Wally?” Dick breathed. “What happened, are you okay?”

“M’fine...”

Dick frowned, not buying into it for a moment. Wally’s words were slurred, slow, his breath too laboured. He almost sounded like he was in pain. “Like hell you’re fine. Where are you?”

Once again, there was silence before Wally replied. “Dunno.”

“What the hell do you mean you don’t know?” Dick stopped dead in his pacing, his attention drawn for the first time to what looked like a gap in the wheat field up ahead. At first, he’d thought it was a road, but now that he looked closer, he realized that there was no interception there. Suspicion turning his stomach to lead, Dick jogged up the road to check it out. He came to a slow stop in front of the gap, watching as it opened up to a long streak cut straight through the field and further than he could see. It was a thin gash through the wheat, too small to have been made by a car, and no tractor marks, but all of the surrounding wheat stalks were bent down as if pushed by a great force.

“I just-”

“Wally, were you running?” Dick cut him off with a sharp snap, already turning on his heel and racing back to the car.

“Dick...”

“Wally, answer me,” Dick bit out. In two graceful bounds, he jumped up on the hood of the car and onto the roof, not leaving even a scuff mark behind. “Were you running?”

From that vantage point, he didn’t really need Wally to answer him. Finally able to see over the top of the fields, Dick could see that streak racing over the flat land surrounding Central City and Keystone, stretching out west until he could hardly see it anymore - but he could see which way it was going. That was enough.

Wally sounded like he’d swallowed hard before answering. “Yeah...”

“And you don’t know where you are.”

“Crashed.”

Dick felt his heart stutter and jump, ice shooting through his veins. “Fuck...” Dick jumped down off the roof of the car, passing his hand over his mouth. Grabbing hold of the car door, he pressed his thumb to a hidden sensor under the handle. A light beep sounded, followed by the doors unlocking. Dick yanked it open and slid inside. Already, the car was lighting up, the center control shifting and flipping over to reveal a large touch pad.

“Don’t think I got far...”

Slamming the door shut beside him, Dick pulled his seat belt on, maneuvering the phone from hand to hand as he struggled to click it in place. “Are you hurt?”

Wally seemed for a moment like he was going to protest, but all that came out was a pitiful groan.

Dick’s stomach dropped. “Never mind. Don’t answer that,” he forced the tremor out of his voice. If Wally had tried to run at his full speed and crashed when his powers inevitably became too much to handle and lashed out, he could be seriously hurt. More than that, they didn’t yet know how the Speed Force had affected him, if it had at all, or if his body was still undergoing cellular degeneration every time he tried to use them. The last time Wally had risked it - shit, Dick knew that this was different, that this had nothing to do with the powercells left behind by the Reach, but it was still a little too much to swallow.

“M’sorry, Dick,” Wally murmured after the long silence.

Dick exhaled. Jaw clenched so tight he could feel the pressure in his forehead, he waved his hand over the touch pad, activating the car as the engine roared to life. He pulled up a live satellite feed, pin pointing it to his location before stretching his fingers along the screen to zoom out. From there, he could follow Wally’s trail through the fields. He was right, at least - he hadn’t gotten far, but he’d gotten far enough. It looked like he’d crashed outside the city limits, in a field several miles away. “I’m coming to get you, okay?” Dick said as he pulled the car onto the road and hit the gas. “Stay put.”

 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

The release was immediate. Wally felt the power building up inside him and shot off like a rocket. The world slowed down around him as he ran full speed through the golden fields. In that moment, instinct took over. This was second nature to him, and even his time spent in retirement, when he’d been force to hang up his mask and stop using his powers, that much hadn’t changed. He’d always craved that mind clearing sensation that came with running, no matter how fast it was. At this speed, it was just him and light, an entity he could chase forever. The fields, the earth, the darkening indigo sky, it all bled into base colours, smearing at the edges of his vision like a watercolour paining. For a while, it was euphoric.

But then the pain caught up. Wally could feel the energy rattling around inside him, too much for him to control, until it finally lashed out and attacked him. He stumbled, but bull-headed as he was, he pushed through. It was stupid, and it was senseless, but he needed this. Wally needed this _one thing_ more than anything. The image of his father outside his new home, pleasantly mowing his lawn and talking to his neighbour was ingrained in his mind, caught in a loop playing over and over.

That man was a stranger. He sure as hell wasn’t the man that Wally knew. The last time he’d seen his father was months before the Invasion even began, and he’d told himself after that last encounter that he was through with him - that he’d be just fine if he never saw the man again. And then he’d fucking _died_ , and been catapulted two years into the future, and his father was just fine. Wally wasn’t sure what he’d expected, or what he wanted, but being confronted with the truth was too much to handle. It seemed like his father was getting on well, marvelously in fact, and Wally didn’t know if he was pissed off or hurt because _why the fuck couldn’t he have done that when he was alive._

Then there was his Mom. His mom, who wrote a little memorial to him, but also kept the house, and had a new boyfriend. She’s turned a blind eye to so much in the past, and here she was now, seemingly living the life she’d wanted years ago - just without him. It was selfish was Wally to not want that for her, he knew that, but that same time he couldn’t help feel like she was doing better without him complicating things.

Now he was here. His entire world had altered faster than he could snap his fingers, and he couldn’t go back. His parents had moved on, his friends had moved on - and in that moment, Wally couldn’t help but imagine this other guy Dick had dated, what he was like, what Dick had seen in him, how he’d slept him him, touched him.

Wally wanted to be jealous, he wanted to be angry, furious, upset, but he didn’t know what to feel and he was almost certain it was going to kill him.

The pain surged. It was too much to handle. Wally tripped, collapsed, watching for a split second as the world turned over on its side, and then went dark. It felt like only seconds later that he was forcing his eyes open, agony radiating through his skull and down his spine, seeping through his entire body. Wally groaned, his vision dark and blurred as he adjusted to the lack of light. When his vision cleared, he was staring up at the moon, full and bright in the dark blue sky. Every muscle in his body ached. His senses came in fragments, scrambled and unclear. It took him far longer than it should have to realize that his phone was vibrating in his pocket. He shifted, biting back a groan as his body protested, and slipped the device out of his back pocket. The screen was hopelessly cracked but still usable. The bright light made his head pound, but he gritted his teeth and forced himself to answer. The contact name written across the screen had guilt weighing down heavy on his chest. Dick.

By the time he hung up, Wally was starting to realize just how badly he’d fucked up. Closing his eyes, Wally let the phone drop from his hand. He leaned back against - whatever’d been propping him up the whole time. Taking in a few deep breaths in a pitiful effort to stop his heart from racing, Wally opened his eyes again. It was a tree. A lone oak tree in the middle of a corn field. The stalks were so high he couldn’t see anything but the stars above him, peaking out through the darkening veil of blue. Wally looked around himself, noticing for the first time the damage he’d caused in his crash. He’d practically made a crater, the stalks he’d run through pushed over and flattened against the ground. Before Wally could take in much else, his right eye began to sting. Something was dripping into it. Dreading what he knew already, Wally reached up and brushed his fingertips against his forehead, wincing at the sting. His fingers came away smeared with blood. He’d really outdone himself this time.

Well, he had said he wanted to clear his head. Wally could hardly think straight. Could hardly think at all. The night was ambient. Wind rattled gently through the fields, playing through the leaves overhead. Crickets and cicadas sang in the distance, filling the night with high strings. It was, ironically, probably the most at peace Wally’d felt since he’d returned.

He wasn’t sure how long it had been until he heard the car rolling up a nearby road. That fact alone probably should have concerned him, but he didn’t have the mind to care. Car headlights shined through the corn stalks, creating beams of white light in the dark. The road couldn’t have been far away. Within seconds, Wally could hear a door opening and slamming shut as a pair of footsteps tracked heavily through the dirt. Stalks bent and snapped as they were pushed aside, until finally, Dick appeared pushing his way through. He stopped, pale in the moonlight, as he stared down at Wally with impossibly wide eyes.

Dick stumbled forward, kneeling down in front of Wally. His hands hovered over his face, trying to assess the damage. “Shit...” he cursed with a trembling breath before rising to his feet again. “Don’t move.” Dick sprinted back through the corn, his silhouette blacked out in the headlights of the car still shining through the crops. Wally couldn’t even respond. He listened to the opening of a car door, rustling in the back seat, and the slamming shut, all with a sort of detached interest. Dick returned moments later with a first aid kit and a plastic bag, dropping his supplies at Wally’s feet as he similarly dropped himself down to his knees in front of him. Reaching out, Dick grabbed hold of Wally’s shoulders, holding him steady as his fury boiled over. “What the _hell_ were you thinking?!” he shouted, the crack of his voice sharper than a gunshot in the night.

Wally let it echo in his ears, mouth open as he struggled to form a response. “I....”

Dick didn’t wait for him to finish. He dropped his hold on Wally’s shoulders in favour of grabbing his wrist, holding two fingers to count his pulse. After a moment, he placed his palm over Wally’s heart like he could feel the hurt there. Finally, he ripped open the plastic bag, taking out a bottle of water and a plastic container of antacids. Dick popped one out into his hand, took Wally’s wrist again, and dropped it on his palm. “Take that,” he ordered, pushing the bottle of water at him.

He didn’t have it in him to argue. Wally nodded, entirely numb as he took the tablet and chased it down with the lukewarm water.

The crickets were still singing. Entirely unaware of the tension between the two men in the field, they continued chirping in the late evening. The effect was almost discordant. Dick flipped the first aid kit open, taking out a small flashlight and flicking it on. “I can’t believe the stunt you just pulled, Wally,” he hissed as he shined the light in Wally’s eyes. Wally groaned and tried to look away, his brain throbbing and hammering against his skull, but Dick’s hand, astonishingly tender even in his anger, guided his head back. “Hey, hey, no, look at me. Follow the light- good, like that,” he said as he moved the light, observing how Wally’s pupils reacted. Putting the light back into the kit, Dick picked out a white cloth and another water bottle from the bag. He poured water onto the cloth, pushing Wally’s hair back out of his face so he could start wiping him off. “You scared the living shit out of me. I had no fucking idea where you were, I thought...”

Dick may have continued talking, but Wally didn’t really hear what he was saying. His focus drifted down. The light of the moon was catching on the ring and chain around Dick’s neck, hanging free from his shirt and swaying with every movement. That ring shined so bright, it’s surface so smooth and polished, Wally almost found himself entranced. He licked his lips, forcing himself to speak. “What would you have said...?”

Dick paused, whatever rant he’d been on cutting off in mid-sentence. “What?”

Slowly, Wally stretched his hand out, holding the ring at his fingertips. “What would you have said?” he repeated.

“Wha- that doesn’t matter right now,” Dick stammered.

Wally responded quietly. “Yes it does.”

Shaking his head, Dick struggled to recover from the shock of the question and continued to dab at the blood on Wally’s face. “You just hit your head going shy of the speed of sound, Wally, it _really_ doesn’t-”

“Yes it _does!”_ The strength behind his voice surprised even him.

Still, though the ferocity made Dick hesitate, he wasn’t one to back down. “ _Why?!_ ”

Wally gritted his teeth, shut his eyes against the sting of tears. “I just - I need to know!” Pushing himself to his feet, Wally swayed on unsteady legs, bracing himself against the trunk of the tree. “I need to know what the hell my life would have been if I hadn’t been fucking obliterated from existence for two goddamn years!”

Dick was quick to follow Wally to his feet, hand wrapping around his wrist to try to tug him back to the ground. “Wally, sit down, you-”

“Dick I don’t know what to do,” Wally’s voice cracked, overtaken with emotion. That, at least, was enough to make Dick listen. Wally swallowed, his throat too tight to breathe properly. “I- fuck, I feel left behind. Like I just crash landed into everyone’s lives when they were trying to move on. I don’t know how I fit into the world anymore. I missed out on Lian, I’ve never even met the twins, my Mom is dating someone I don’t know, my Dad is a stranger, I just- I can’t _recognize_ anything anymore, and-”

“Wally, listen to me,” Dick’s voice cut through the chaos in his head, clearer than the starry sky. All at once, Wally was reminded to breathe. Hands gentle on either side of Wally’s face, Dick urged him to look him in the eyes, shining in the crystal moonlight. Dick finally seemed to understand what this was really about. “It won’t make a difference,” he continued calmly. Smoothing his hands down Wally’s neck and over his shoulders, Dick guided him back to sit on the ground, leaning back against the tree for support. Maintaining eye contact, Dick picked up the cloth again, and began to clean Wally’s face. “There aren’t any solid answers, and even if there were, knowing them wouldn’t change what happened. And it fucking _sucks_ , I know that, but you can’t torture yourself over ‘maybes’.”

Wally deflated. The vice that had been constricting tighter and tighter around his chest and his throat at last vanished. Wally allowed Dick to clean him up, the sting fading into the background. Feeling all inhibition drain from him, or otherwise being too exhausted to hold back, Wally closed his eyes. “What... what if they don’t care?” he whispered.

Dick’s hand paused on his temple. “Wally...”

“No, I mean...” he shook his head, pursing his lips as he tried to sort out his maelstrom of thoughts and concerns “What if I see them and it’s just... “hey, good for you,” and then they continue on like it’s nothing?” Though even he didn’t understand it, he laughed, the sound dry and hollow in his chest. “I know you said they’ve changed. Especially my old man, but... I just don’t know if I’m ready to believe it.”

“Hey,” Dick murmured, fingers under Wally’s chin, tilting his head up to look at him again. “Your parents were fucking awful to you. That doesn’t just disappear. And part of me will never forgive that. I’ll sure as hell never forget it,” Dick trailed off, smothering down that last ember of rage in his voice at the thought. He shook his head, continuing with conviction. “I don’t want you to think that suddenly everything is perfect. It _shouldn’t_ have taken them losing you to change, but that’s what happened. They lost their only son. Now, not just from what they’ve told me, but what I have _seen_... I do think they’ve changed for the better. Maybe not completely, but there was an effort. They care, Wally. Whether or not you forgive them is your prerogative, but...you can’t run from this anymore, you...” Dick’s voice faded off again. Wally might have thought he was just taking his time, trying to find the right words to say, had it not been for the pull at the centre of his brows.

“What?”

Dick’s frown deepened. He passed a clean corner of the cloth over Wally’s forehead again, and although he braced himself for the sting, nothing came. “You’re not bleeding anymore...”

“Huh?” Wally reached up to touch his forehead, and surely enough, the bleeding gash was already a closing scab. Even the scrapes on his hands and arms from the crash had disappeared. He’d never healed that quickly, not even in the prime of his powers. Wally raised his brows as he turned his hand over. “That’s new.”

Dick watched him, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips. “Well, it’s a whole new world, babe. That, in itself, is nothing new,” he murmured. Wally found himself breathless for an entirely different reason as Dick stood up, offering him his hand, his head eclipsing the moon. With a soft sigh, Wally took Dick’s hand and allowed him to help him to his feet. Dick’s arm came up around his back, keeping him steady on his feet. “Come on.”

Try as he might to smother it down, Wally felt the anxiety return. “Wait, I’m a mess, I should shower or something, I-”

“Walls,” Dick cut him off with a knowing smile. “You’ve stalled for long enough, don’t you think? I know that’s what this trip was really about.”

Wally averted his gaze to the ground. Well, Dick was half right, at least. That other half was still caught staring into the void of the Zeta beam in a petrified trance. “Yeah...”

Dick gave his side a light squeeze before stooping down to gather the first aid kit and plastic bag. Though the going was slow, they walked through the wrecked corn and out onto the road. Dick stopped in the beam of the headlights still shining white and throwing their shadows into the fields. “And one more thing,” he murmured, tipping their heads together in a slow kiss before breaking away. “Hear what I’m saying, okay? You may have been gone, but you were never left behind.”

 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

Wally was shaking as he leaned against the side of the house. If it hadn’t been for his death grip on Dick’s hand, he probably would have run down the street by now. Head tilted back against the siding, he kept his eyes shut and forced himself to taking calming breaths, even when all he wanted was to explode. Dick was a grounding presence beside him, not complaining once about the bruising hold on his hand. He just caressed his thumb over Wally’s knuckles, staying silent when he needed to be.

They’d parked up the street. After texting Barry to let him know that he’d found him, Dick drove Wally back into Keystone, through the familiar and at the same time foreign streets, until they made it to Wally’s old neighbourhood. They passed by the High School, where they’d had their first dance, by the closed remnants of Dorothy’s Candy Shop, the place that’d give them their first almost-kiss. Driving through memory after memory in the suburb, they at last made it about a block away from Wally’s childhood home. Wally changed into a clean shirt from the dufflebag he’d left in the car, and used the rest of the water to wash the dirt and crusted blood from his skin - the rest of the water was swallowed in hasty gulps as he tried to settle his nerves. Dick texted Barry once they were outside, standing at the corner of the house. Hardly thirty seconds later, they’d seen Barry part the blinds in the window just enough to see them, and give them a nod. Though the words were unclear and muffled by the wall between them, Wally could hear the unmistakable tone in Barry’s voice, about to tell his parents the story.

From there it was just waiting. Wally couldn’t hear exactly what was being said, but he picked out the voices of his mother and father, growing steadily in pitch whenever they interjected. Barry seemed patient, laying everything out as plainly as he could, taking his time - this wasn’t something to be rushed. Still, Wally found himself both anxious for this to end, and terrified of it beginning. He nearly jumped out of his skin when the front door opened, flooding yellow light onto the front porch and down the steps. Wally froze, going completely stiff as he whipped his head to the side. For a moment, he thought it was his Mom, but the younger woman with longer hair stepping out onto the porch was recognizable even by her silhouette. Iris took a few steps down off the porch, looking around for Wally and Dick. When her gaze finally landed on Wally, she mirrored him, frozen on the spot. Then, in the space of a heart beat, Iris was running across the short distance, throwing her arms around Wally. It was a moment of silence until Wally let go of Dick’s hand to wrap his arms around his aunt. Still, Iris said nothing for the longest time, just holding onto the little boy she thought she’d lost. The fact that she’d known Wally was alive for weeks now didn’t seem to count for anything. Seeing him for the first time in person was another matter entirely.

Finally, if only to let Wally breathe, Iris relaxed her hold, stepping back enough to cup his cheek and smile, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I missed you,” she whispered.

Wally grinned, trying to keep the wetness out of his own eyes. “Missed you too...” he murmured. That one little exchange meant so much more than either of them could say. Wally exhaled slowly, glancing toward the open door. “Are they ready?”

Inside, Mary’s voice reached a fever pitch, something akin to begging, even as Barry tried to keep her calm. Iris shook her head, placing a hand on Wally’s back. “Not at all,” she replied as she began to guide him inside.

Wally reached out, snatching Dick’s hand and holding on for dear life. Dick squeezed back, silently telling him he’d be there the whole time, a quiet reassurance, as they walked up the front porch. Pausing at the door, Wally felt like his legs might give out from under him. His blood was rushing through his head so fast he thought he might topple over, and it was a struggle just to keep breathing evenly. This was it. Wally let one more trembling sigh shudder from his lungs before opening his eyes and looking back at Dick. He gave Dick’s hand another squeeze before letting go, knowing that he needed to do this on his own - but not alone. With that, Wally stepped through the front door.

The house hadn’t changed that much, but he didn’t have much time to feel any way about it. The moment he stepped inside, he was met with a sight that would be imprinted in him for all his life. His mother was already on her feet, standing in front of Barry in the centre of the living room, as if she’d stumbled out of her chair. Behind her, his father was sitting in his old armchair. Both of them stared at him, and he stared back. Rudolph slowly rose up from his chair, as Mary stumbled a step forward.

“Wally...?” she breathed as if she still couldn’t quite believe it.

Wally hadn’t realized that he’d already started crying before he tasted the tears on his lip. “Hi, Mom.”

Mary’s hands flew up over her mouth. It was something between a shriek and a hysterical sob, a mangled shout of her son’s name, as she ran toward him. Wally’s arms were already open, stumbling forward to meet her in the middle. The second she had him in her arms, Wally was burying his head in her shoulder. Suddenly all of the fear, all of the anxiety that lead up to this moment melted away. He just wanted to be held by his Mom. There was no feeling like it in the world, and in spite of the strain in their relationship in his last few years, he felt that comfort and belonging wash over him so completely he found it difficult to stay on his feet. Mary pet his hair, held him tight, sobbing into his ear a half-sensible stream of having her baby home, her boy was alive, he was _home_. The shock had her shaking. It was minutes before she’d calmed down enough to relax her hold on him. She held him back, staring up at him, still in complete awe and disbelief. As she moved, however, Wally’s gaze finally lifted to his father.

He remembered, in that moment, thinking as a kid that his dad was enormous. He was tall, and sturdy, imposing at times for all the wrong reasons - but in the times of the right reasons, he was safe, invincible. In that moment, he thought none of that. This was a man standing in front of him, fallible and flawed as anyone else. All Wally could remember, in that _exact_ moment, was that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen tears in his father’s eyes.

Wally slowly stepped out of his mother’s hold, giving her another tearful smile before looking back at his dad. Iris took his place, wrapping an arm around Mary to keep her from collapsing. Everyone in the room held their breath as Wally approached Rudolph, stopping just a foot in front of him. He swallowed, his throat dry. When he spoke, his voice was uneven and strained. “Dad...” Unsure of what to do, how to handle this, Wally extended his hand.

Rudolph’s eyes flickered between the hand and his son’s face. Jaw tight, he reached out with a firm grip and took his hand. But that’s when his composure crumbled. That tight jaw gave way to a trembling mouth, and before Wally could register what was happening, he was being pulled into his father’s arms in a bone crushing hold. He could feel his dad sobbing against him. Wally’s shoulders shook as he threw his arm around him, finally breaking down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

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	7. Shallow Graves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I've ever put so much of myself into a story. Writing this was so healing in the strangest ways. Thank you all so much for coming along.

There wasn’t a real boundary between the cemetery and the fields. At some point the graves just scattered out, the grass rolling into the well tilled farmlands. The little white chapel sitting on the edge of Keystone looked out into the rural farmlands, it’s steeple not much different than a chimney or a weather vain at a distance. A few trees lined either side of the church, shading the parking lot on the side of the building or watching over the dead. Their leaves were just starting to change now. It’d started getting colder in the past week Wally and Dick had spent on the Kansas-Missouri border. The fields were being cut, the grass drying up, and the leaves beginning to fall. One particular leaf, almost pure red in colour, had drifted down from the nearby Oak and perched on top of Wally’s gravestone.

Hands in the pockets of his brown jacket, Wally stood over his own empty grave, staring down at his name carved into the stone. It was just his name. His name, his birthday, and the day that he’d died. There was a casket six feet beneath his feet. It would have been his in another universe, one where he hadn’t gotten so lucky. He would have been down there. Worm food. Try as he might to feel any particular way about it, Wally couldn’t really think what to feel. It was difficult to imagine being dead when the afternoon sun was warm, and the breeze was cold, and the cicadas and crows were singing somewhere in the trees, and everything was just - well, very much alive around him. Even as the land began to wither. Even as the flowers placed at the base were beginning to shrivel up.

It was just strange. Wally had come thinking he’d see it and gain some sort of grand clarity, see the world he’d woken up to in a different light, or something equally life-altering. After all, it did hit hard thinking that Dick had been here the day they lowered that empty casket into the ground, that his was all that had been left of him in the world - a name on a slab of rock. It hit hard thinking that Dick had to read his name like this. It hit hard thinking that his parents probably visited it knowing that the last years of his life Wally had wanted nothing to do with them and for all they knew they’d never have the chance to mend their broken relationship.

But right now? All Wally felt was an odd sense of calm. That’s all this was, a slab of rock with a name on it, an impostor amoung the rows upon rows of dead. Wally wasn’t dead. He was here, living and breathing, turning his head up to the sun with his eyes closed as he took in a deep breath and exhaled into a chilly gust of wind. He wasn’t sure what they were going to do with the grave, now. If they’d just leave it be as a sort of monument to what’d happened, or dig it up and - what, let some other poor soul inhabit his second-hand grave for the rest of eternity? Wally didn’t know. He found that, try as he might, he didn’t really care. He was here. That was what mattered.

Footsteps crunched through the scattered leaves in the grass behind him. Wally didn’t need to look back as Dick walked up and stopped at his side, hands also stuffed into the pockets of his leather jacket. They were both silent for a long time, just staring down at the gravestone. That is, until Dick looked up, breathing slowly out his nose as he looked around the too-familiar cemetery. “Ghost Cow.”

Wally snorted. He tried to hold back the laughter, but it came out all the same, his shoulders shaking as he dipped his head and tried to reign himself in. Dick seemed a little too pleased with himself and his joke. He stared at Wally as he pressed his hand over his eyes, the smile on his face so brilliant it had no right existing in a graveyard - then again, maybe that was what made it so breathtaking. When Wally did finally get a hold of himself, he looked up to see that smile and those vivid blue eyes shining back at him. He shook his head, pulling his right hand out of his pocket so he could sling it around Dick’s shoulders, pulling him in close enough to press a firm kiss to his temple. They stayed like that for a moment, before Wally looked back at the headstone.

“Alright, point for you, smartass,” he said, giving Dick a little playful shake.

Dick nudged him lightly with his shoulder. “Figured I’d get a head start before we leave tomorrow.”

“Well, don’t get too comfortable,” Wally chuckled as he began to guide the two of them away from the grave. He’d had enough staring for the time being, though he noticed Dick’s hand unfurling from his jacket pocket and smoothing over the top, brushing off the crimson leaf that’d fallen there. Wally spared only a glance over his shoulder before they began walking around the church. “There’s a lot of farms between here and New Jersey.”

“I’ll be ready this time,” Dick chuckled as they left the cemetery behind and began walking across the cracked concrete of the parking lot. “You’re sure about coming back, though?” he asked after a pause. “I’d understand if you wanted to spend more time here with your family-”

“I’m sure,” Wally replied. “I wouldn’t really know where to stay anyway, or what to do with myself. I think it’s best to just... continued as I would have before, you know? As much as I can, anyway. Just to let things settle.”

Dick said nothing at first, but slowly Wally felt him wrap his arm around his back. When he looked down at him again, Dick was looking right back at him, the two of them leaning in for a quick kiss. Rounding the white chapel, they headed across the street to Rudolph West’s small home. They’d spent most nights at Mary’s house in the past week because she still had Wally’s bedroom (in pristine condition, exactly how he’d left it when he moved to Cali) and there was generally more space. Still, when they’d first come over to Rudolph’s new home, it hadn’t been lost on Wally that the man had moved right across the street from the church - and his grave. They hadn’t talked about it. Maybe they should have, but they hadn’t, and honestly it sort of went without saying.

Another car was just pulling up as they walked over, kicking up gravel as it stopped along the side of the road. Mary got out of the car, stopping a moment to fix her hair in the window before she waved to the boys. Wally leaned down to give her a quick hug and a peck on the cheek once they were closer. As he stepped back, she did the same to Dick, and Wally couldn’t stifle the thought that years ago this casual sight of affection was something he never thought he’d see. Though Mary had been more tolerant of his relationship with Dick, she’d always been just slightly awkward around him. This, though, seemed almost normal.

“Hey, Mom,” Wally smiled at her. “What’re you doing over here? I thought you had a date with... uh-”

 Dick leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Gary.”

“With Gary,” Wally recovered, sending a grateful look over to Dick.

“I do,” Mary replied as she rounded the small red hatchback to the trunk. “But I wanted to see you two before you headed off tomorrow and I thought I’d drop off some food for the Wests.”

Wally followed her to the back of the car, peering in as the trunk popped open at the trays of food inside. “Mom, you didn’t have to.”

Mary only waved him off, already reaching in to pull out a platter of fruit. “Oh, I don’t mind, I wanted to. I made some extra deviled eggs and mashed potatoes, but a lot of it is left over from when we had my side over on Friday,” she said.

The Brady family had come down from Blue Valley, Nebraska two days ago to see Wally and celebrate him “coming home”. It’d been a lot of cousins Wally hadn’t seen even years before his alleged disappearance, aunts and uncles who pretended not to see it when he held Dick’s hand, his grandpa and step-grandma, and a dozen or so of Mary’s friends. Overwhelming at times, but Wally had recognized how important it was for his Mom so he grinned and bore it. Tonight was going to be a similar get together with the Wests, everyone thankfully told of Wally’s return beforehand so he wouldn’t have to deal with people freaking out all night. The West family wasn’t as large as the Bradys, so at the very least this would be a bit quieter. Still, Wally wasn’t sure how much he was looking forward to seeing them at all given their “opinions” on people like him.

Pushing the fruit platter into Wally’s hand, Mary bent back into the trunk to bring out a container of mashed potatoes. “I always end up cooking too much anyway. I guess it’s still a habit,” she said as she straightened up again. And, like clockwork, her gaze caught on Wally for a moment longer, and she began to tear up.

Wally set the platter back down in the trunk and pulled her into his arms. “Aw, Mom...”

“Oh, I’m fine, I’m fine,” Mary insisted as she held him tight, the same way she used to do when he wasn’t over a foot taller than her. Once she’d stepped back, she swiped her fingers under her eyes to wipe away any damp mascara, fanning her eyes so her make up would dry out. “I’m just fine, don’t mind me.” With her make up under control, she looked back at Wally with a watery smile. “It’ll just take some getting used to. Not that I mind,” she said as she kissed Wally’s cheek again, raising a hand to cradle his other cheek as she moved back. She kept her hand there. “I love you so much, baby. You call me every single day, you got that?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Wally grinned.

A loud crash came from the garage, followed by a series of muffled cursing. All three of them winced, knowing who that probably came from. Dick squeezed Wally’s shoulder, nodding toward the garage. “I’ll help get all this inside if you want to go see what that was about,” he said. Though he didn’t say it out loud, there was a pointed note in his look about actually talking to his Dad.

Without a valid reason to argue (even if he did try to think of one), Wally complied and left Dick to help his Mom carry the food into the house, while he walked up the driveway to the garage. He bent down to grab the handle, pulling it up with only a little resistance and letting it slide the rest of the way automatically. Surely enough, his father was in the garage, surrounded by the contents of his fallen tool box, crouching beneath his old barbecue in grease-stained jeans. He was muttering to himself as he struggled with something on the underside of the grill, growing increasingly more frustrated. He hadn’t even seemed to notice Wally opening the garage door until the afternoon light spilled in. The radio crackled, tuned to a station just barely in range, as it played a song by Cat Stevens that Wally couldn’t remember the name of.

_It's not time to make a change. Just relax, take it easy. You're still young, that's your fault. There's so much you have to know._

“Hey,” Wally said, leaning against the side of the garage door with his arms crossed loosely over his chest. “You need any help?”

Rudolph peered out from beneath the grill, only vaguely acknowledging Wally before focusing back on the task. “No, it’s alright. I’ve got it,” he grunted, seemingly struggling with a large bolt. “Haven’t used it in years and the damn thing won’t light.” Reaching out without looking, he blindly groped around until he found a bottle of oil. It wasn’t five seconds after he’d brought it underneath the grill that the man lurched back, sputtering and wiping oil off his face.

Wally shook his head, walking over to the work bench against the far wall and grabbing a stained though relatively clean towel. He tossed it to his father. “You sure you don’t need a hand?”

Rudolph caught the rag, using it to furiously wipe the oil grease off of his face. When he was cleaned off, he looked up at Wally again, pausing as he slowly lowered the towel from his head. For a long moment, he stared up at Wally, as if seeing him there for the first time. Rudolph cleared his throat, quickly turning away. He dropped the rag at his side before ducking under the grill again. “Pass me that socket wrench, will you? The 11/16.”

“Sure,” Wally said as he shed his coat and draped it on the side of the work bench. He stooped down to the scattered tools on the concrete, picking out the wrench and passing it to his dad.

Taking the wrench, Rudolph brought it underneath the grill, attempting to use it for not even half a second before passing it back. “No, the 11/16 socket wrench,” he repeated with an edge of impatience.

Wally frowned as he took the wrench back, looking down at the numbers clearly etched into the handle. “Yeah. I know.”

“No, not that one, the- for God’s sake, the 11/16!”

“That’s the one I’m _holding_ , Dad!” Wally snapped.

With a huff, Rudolph leaned out from under the grill and sat upright again, looking down at the tool his son was holding. He frowned, taking it from Wally and turning it over in his hands, before trying to use it again. After a moment, he straightened up once more, clearing his throat as he passed it back. “Sorry,” he said. “My mistake. I needed the 5/8.”

Wally was struck in that moment with the fact that he couldn’t remember the last time he’d actually heard his father apologize. The tension between them deflated as Wally sighed and set the incorrect wrench down, picking out the one they needed and passing it to Rudolph. “No problem...” he muttered as Rudolph ducked under the bed of the grill again. “Got it?”

Grunting as the bolt finally came loose, Rudolph took a moment before answering, working on hooking up a new pipe. “Yeah, I got it. Just pass me that new propane tank?”

Wally nodded, pushing himself to his feet and crossing the garage to the shining tank sitting in the corner. He carried it back with little difficulty, and helped his dad get it secured beneath the barbecue. Rudolph groaned as he stood, stretching his sore limbs for a moment before grabbing a long lighter from the workbench. Sure enough, when he turned on the gas and lit the coals, a steady flame ignited.

More than pleased with the work, Rudolph cut the gas and let the flame die out as he closed the lid. “Thank you,” he said with an idle pat to Wally’s back as he grabbed another rag and a can of polish from the work bench.

Wally, still in a state of mild shock, took a silent moment to respond. “Any time.”

Rudolph paused at the radio, adjusting the dial just a bit to turn the music up before getting to work on cleaning the grill. He started with the cover, slowly working all of the grime and rust off. “So,” he began, “you two are all set to head out in the morning?”

Wally leaned back against the work bench. “Yeah,” he said as a chill gust of wind stirred into the garage, the sun still warm and the birds calling outside. “Probably gonna stay another night in a motel on the way back. We’re not in any hurry, but Dick’s gotta get back to work, and I’ve... got a lot of figuring out to do,” he sighed.

“Right,” Rudolph nodded stiffly without looking up from his work. “Well... if you need someone to talk to about... any of that, I’m all ears.”

Though he knew his dad couldn’t see it, Wally couldn’t help the small smile that overtook him. “Thanks, Dad.”

Tires rolling through the gravel on the side of the road drew Wally’s attention outside. Barry and Iris were pulling up, just as Dick had finished helping Mary get everything into the house. Dick had just shut Mary’s trunk when the back doors of the minivan were opened to reveal impatient toddlers trying to wiggle free of their car seats. Once their parents had unclipped them and lifted them out of the car, Donny and Dawn were running as fast as their unsteady legs could take them toward Dick - which was still _considerably_ fast. Dick was ready though, bending down and letting the twins barrel into him. With arms wide open, he swooped one toddler under each arm, spinning them around a few times as they squealed and laughed.

The radio crackled on. _All the times that I cried, keeping all the things I knew inside. It's hard, but it's harder to ignore it._

Wally didn’t realize how much he was smiling, watching Dick with the twins, until he heard a quiet chuckle beside him. He turned his head to find his dad watching him, shining project abandoned for the moment as he slung the towel over his shoulder and watched the scene outside.

A long silence passed before Rudolph spoke. “He’s a good man, Wally.”

Wally never took his eyes off Dick. “Yeah... yeah, he really is.”

“You love him.”

Stopping with a skipped beat in his chest as the significance of that acknowledgment settled in, Wally slowly looked back at Rudolph. His smile faded into a more sincere, almost somber expression. “I do.”

Once again, silence. Rudolph just barely nodded, looking back out across the lawn as Dick greeted Barry and Iris. The twins were still tugging at his jeans and his shirt, begging him to play. He took it graciously, grinning down at them and ruffling Donny’s hair. Rudolph observed the scene with a measure of distance, not just physical. “It took me too long to figure that out.”

Wally blinked. “Dad-”

But Rudolph was holding his hands up before Wally could finish, in what was at the same time a silencing motion and a gesture of surrender and peace. “I’m not going to pretend I understand,” he said bluntly. “But... I’m trying now.” His voice was sincere as he continued, every word thought over carefully. “I spent far too long trying to fight the man you were always meant to be, because it wasn’t what I had always envisioned for my son’s life.” With an almost hesitant movement, as if giving him time to move away, Rudolph lowered his hands onto Wally’s shoulders. “Son, I was wrong.”

All at once, Wally felt some indescribable little crack in the back of his mind heal over. It wasn’t an instantaneous fix, there was still a sprawling network of fissures and cracks shattered across years and years - but it was a mending nonetheless. Wally exhaled, swallowing past the thickness in his throat as he nodded. Rudolph accepted that, dropping his hands as Wally turned to look outside again. “Dick told me that you’ve changed,” he said when he’d found his voice again. “He’s like that, you know? Deep down, he’s always the first to believe in the good in someone. He makes me want to be better. I want to be able to do that...” Wally trailed off, “but I guess I just need a little more time.”

Rudolph nodded. “I understand,” he said. Taking the towel off his shoulder, he shared a long, knowing look, before returning to his cleaning.

Wally lingered a moment longer in the garage, watching the man work in silence before heading back out into the late afternoon sun. The twins were still all over Dick as Barry and Iris spoke with Mary. Wally walked down the driveway just as Mary was breaking off from them to come meet him in the middle. She hugged him again, holding him tight and rubbing his back before pulling back to kiss his cheek. “Alright, I’ve got to head out before I’m late to meet Gary. I’d really love for you to meet him soon, Wally, he’s so sweet.”

Wally awkwardly nodded. “Yeah, sure, of course,” he said. Disregarding the fact that it was still _weird_ and a little too fast for him, Mary had been excitedly pushing for Wally to meet her new boyfriend while he was still in town. “Maybe next time, okay?”

“Alright,” Mary sighed. “Next time, or we could always come visit you out East.” Finally seeming to sense that Wally didn’t have any more to say on that topic, Mary gave in and held him tight again. They stayed like that for a long while, his mom in absolutely no hurry to say goodbye - with every embrace it seemed harder and harder to let go. Finally, Mary pressed her lips to Wally’s temple. “I love you, baby.”

“Love you too, Mom,” Wally murmured back as she finally let go.

Knowing that if she didn’t leave now she likely never would, Mary turned and walked around to the driver’s side of the car. She waved to Dick, Barry, and Iris before getting into the car, still wiping make up from under her eyes as she drove off. Wally watched her go until he felt a little tug at the back of his jeans. When he looked down, Dawn was staring up at him, all big green eyes and strawberry blonde hair. She tilted her head, staring at him in curiously. Wally stepped back, kneeling down in front of her.

“Hi Dawn,” he said with a smile. “Do you know who I am? I’m your cousin, Wally. I’ve been gone for a long time, but I’m back now. I’m really happy to meet you.” Wally held out his hand, but at that moment, Dawn had decided she’d had enough, and scurried around to hide behind Dick’s leg.

Dick, who was still holding Donny, looked down at Dawn before shooting Wally an apologetic glance. He mouthed a “sorry” to him before setting Donny down, who just like his sister, ran behind him.

Wally deflated. Iris came up behind Wally, squeezing his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” she offered a smile. “They can be a bit shy at first. They’ll get used to you eventually. It’s just that they know Dick a little better.”

“Donny, buddy!” Barry called his son over. “C’mere!” Easily excitable as he was, Donny rushed over to Barry, laughing in delight as he was lifted up into his father’s arms. Barry held him against his side, motioning for Wally to stand up. “Donny, this is your cousin Wally. You know how Daddy runs really, really fast and helps people?”

“Yeah!” Donny cheered, throwing his arms up in the air - y’know, for emphasis.

Barry laughed. “Well, Wally used to do that to. He’d run really, really, _really,_ fast,” he grinned, tickling Donny’s side just to make the boy squeal, “and he would help me protect the city, and save lots of people. That’s cool, right?” he asked. Donny nodded. “Can you give him a high five?”

Donny looked back at Wally, head tilting in an identical manner to his sister. Wally was a rational man, a man of science and fact, but he _swore_ he could feel those little eyes digging directly into his soul. Finally, Donny gave Wally a baby-toothed smile, and raised his little hand. Wally smiled back at him and raised his hand, letting Donny by the one to push forward and smack their palms together. The moment their hands collided, Wally made a dramatic show of falling to the ground, clutching his hand as he was defeated by the much stronger, much more powerful, toddler. Donny shrieked with laughter. Scrambling down from his father’s arms, he threw himself at Wally on the ground, body slamming on top of him as Wally pretended to wrestle with him.

Iris already had her phone out, taking video and pictures. She looked down at her daughter, still hiding behind Dick. “Why don’t you go play too, baby girl?” she said, pointing her camera at Dawn. Dawn only watched, her eyes narrowing at Wally as she clung tighter to Dick’s leg. Wally, of course, noticed this, and paused in his fight-to-the-death with Donny to quirk a brow up at Dick and Iris. Iris merely shrugged, struggling to hold back her amusement. “We... think Dawn might have a bit of a crush on Dick,” she laughed.

“Oh, we’re going to have to have a little talk about that one day,” Wally snorted. He’d barely had time to get off the ground, with Donny still tugging at his legs and trying to pull him back down to the ground, before a blur of colour and wind whipped down the street and nearly knocked him back down. Everyone flinched, shrinking back on instinct, only to relax with a collective round of exasperation when Bart stopped in front of them.

“Bart,” Barry began in a long suffering tone, “you-”

“Are late, I know!” Bart finished for him with a shrug. Slurpie in hand, he took a long and loud slip from the straw as Donny and Dawn stumbled over to him excitedly babbling to play. “Sorry, lost track of time. Hangin’ out with Cassie and Jaime. My bad! In my defense, though, bumped into someone at the Zeta port and had to give some directions. Hey, Wally!” Bart chirped at a mile a minute, rushing forward to crush his elder cousin in a tight hug. “Good to see you un-tased!”

Wally took a moment to recover before patting the young speedster’s back. “Good to see you too, dude.”

“Wait, Bart, back up a minute here,” Iris sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “What are you talking about? Who did you bump into?”

Bart only grinned. “Spoilers, Grandma.”

“Don’t call me Grandma!”

“I was _saying_ ,” Barry interjected, clapping a hand on Bart’s shoulder as he tried to keep from laughing at Iris’ indignation. “That you need to be more careful, Bart. You know you can’t go running around at full speed in broad daylight.”

“Relax, Gramps, I got it covered! No one saw me, cross my heart,” Bart grinned, completing the gesture with his free hand. With the twins getting impatient and whining for his attention, Bart passed Barry the rest of his Slurpie, scooped the kids up in either arm, and was running into the backyard before anyone could process what’d happened. Even Barry was left a little dazed, staring down at the drink in his hands. With a resigned shrug, he took a sip of the neon blue beverage and followed after his children with Iris.

Dick watched them for a lingering moment, his brow low, chewing at the inside of his lip as he often did in thought. Wally had been about to comment on it when Dick just shook his head. Finally free of the toddler latched to his leg, Dick walked over to Wally and gave him a playful nudge. “And you say my family’s weird.”

“Please,” Wally snorted. “Time travelers, Speedsters, and paradoxical family relations are _tame_ compared to the Bat Clan.”

Dick’s playful nudge graduated to a shove, but even he couldn’t keep from laughing. Wally didn’t have the chance to retaliate. The distant sound of another car coming up the road drew his attention to a little yellow minivan puttering their way. As it got closer, the sign on the top became clear through the haze of afternoon light, and Wally realized it was a cab. The two of them stepped back a bit off the side of the road as the car came to a slow stop. Through the tinted windows in the back, they could just barely see the driver and another figure inside exchanging a few words and what looked like a bit of cash. It was another minute of fumbling with something in the seat next to the passenger, before the door slid open and Will Harper climbed out, lifting his daughter out of a carseat and setting her on the ground. Lian, like the twins, immediately ran to Dick, a little older and a little more steady on her feet as she bounded over to him. Dick picked her up, and let her babble on about how she was a ballerina now - but his attention was solely on the two red headed men in front of them.

Will straightened up once he’d set Lian down, watching her run off with a smile before catching Wally’s gaze. The sputter and roar of the cab’s engine as it started up and drove away was barely acknowledged. As its noise faded, all that was left was the swaying of the stalks in the few un-tilled fields left, the wind rustling through corn and barely and wheat. There was birds, and cicadas, and a few brave crickets as the afternoon grew later, but neither man said a word. At last, Will shook his head, stepping forward and pulling Wally into a strong hug. Wally met him in the middle, unable to hold back his beaming smile as he patted Will on the back.

When will pulled back, he stared at Wally for a moment longer, lightly clapping his palm to the side of Wally’s neck. “Stupid punk.”

Wally only smiled wider. “Nice beard, old man. Really pulling for that Hot Dad thing, huh?”

“Fuck off,” Will pushed Wally away with a chuckle.

Lian giggled from Dick’s hold. “Fuh’off!” she repeated.

Will immediately went pale, turning to his daughter and quickly taking her from Dick. “Wait, no, Lian, don’t say that! Daddy shouldn’t have said that, that was a bad word.”

 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

The past week had been a lot of hugs and a lot of tears. Wally took it all in stride, or at least he tried to. Ringing in the back of his mind all the while was a bitter note of what his life might’ve been if things had been different. Still, what Dick had said to him days ago still resonated with him. There was no point in obsessing over it. There was no changing what had happened. This was his life, and he wasn’t getting a do-over. Hell, this _was_ his do-over, and he’d be an idiot not to take it.

Night fell slowly over the rural edge of Keystone. Family arrived slowly. His grandma came with his 10 year old cousin (also named Wally after their great-grandfather) and as expected was absolutely floored and delighted to have him back. His Uncle Daniel couldn’t come, she regretted to say, but the good news would be passed along. From there it was his Dad’s cousins, more distant and scattered family, until it felt more like a reunion than strictly about him. That ended up being comforting in a way. The West family was a dozen levels of fucked up, and the fact that they spent most of the time completely ignoring Dick wasn’t lost on him - but hell, if his Dad could change, maybe there was hope. And if there wasn’t, Wally figured he’d done his family duty by facing them in person, and after that they could choose if they wanted anything to do with him. There wasn’t outright animosity, no remarks tossed around. It was a tense civility, and although Wally _hated_ that, he forced himself to reconcile with the fact that years ago it would have been so much worse. The Brady family had been largely the same. Baby steps.

With a bonfire pit lit in the backyard, Wally sat on one of the lawn chairs in a circle around it, as one of his Great-Uncles prodded him about what he remembered of the Invasion. The flames of the fire were high, throwing embers into the air to get lost in the stars with every crack of the wood. “Like I said, I don’t remember much,” Wally admitted. “I was across the bay in San Francisco when the height of the Invasion really began, and I just sort of... got lost in the chaos. Next thing I know, I’m in Alaska. Once I got back on my feet, I tried getting back down here as soon as possible. That’s when Dick found me in Gotham,” he said, sending a look over to his partner from over the flames.

His Great-Uncle Jonah grunted, shifting in his lawn chair as he reached for his beer can in the mesh cupholder. “Well, what’d those aliens want with ya?”

“Don’t know,” Wally shrugged. “Not sure they wanted anything at all. Like a fish in a net, y’know? I was just in the wrong place.”

Great-Aunt Ursula took a drag from her cigarette from the other side of the fire. “You know, I know a girl. My hairstylist’s cousin’s daughter? Well, her college roommate went missin’ in all that chaos and ended up two towns over when the dust settled!”

“Yeah?” Another Great-something-or-other whose name Wally couldn’t remember for the life of him piped up. “And how long was she missing?”

“Two days,” Ursula shook her head as she stomped her cigarette butt out under her shoe in the grass. “I tell ya, I believe it. No matter what they say about her ex-boyfriend. She’s a sweet girl, Wally, you’d like her.”

Wally forced on a smile. “I’m sure I would,” he said. Sitting upright, he pretended to notice himself being beckoned. He looked back over the flames to where Barry and Will were watching the kids by the back porch. “Ah, sorry, ‘scuse me,” Wally said as he stood from his chair and excused himself from the circle. He wasn’t sure whether it was the distance from his family or the lack of heat that left him breathing just a little easier once he’d walked away. Wally passed his dad along the way, Rudolph clapping him on the shoulder in passing before taking up his empty chair and cracking open a beer with one of his cousins. Wally had to fight down that moment of resentment, having hoped not to see his Dad drinking tonight. It was only his first though, and they were already late into the night. Wally exhaled. Baby steps.

It was only as Wally approached that he noticed that Dick had vanished since he’d last looked. After all these years, he really figured he should have been used to the acrobat’s disappearing acts, but outside of the suite it was still a little jarring. “Hey,” Wally waved to Barry and Will as he approached. “Either of you see where Dick went?”

Will nodded, motioning to Barry that he’d be right back, before guiding Wally around the side of the house. As they got closer, the sounds of shoes squeaking on concrete and the rattling of the garage door became louder. They breached the corner, where Will pointed at Dick’s current one-on-two basketball game with Barry and Wallace. “He got dragged in,” Will commented as he leaned against the siding and took a sip of his drink. “I think little Wally’s words were something along the lines of ‘needing a better challenge’. Guess just playing against Bart got old,” he chuckled. Wally laughed with him, and had been a step away from calling to Dick, when Will’s hand came up to rest lightly on his shoulder. He allowed himself to be held back for a moment, looking at Will in obvious confusion. Will didn’t acknowledge him at first, just taking another sip and savouring it as he watched the game. Finally he breathed out slowly through his nose. “I’m glad you’re back, Wall,” he said. “In general, but also... for his sake. He dealt with it eventually, but.... he was never the same.”

Wally felt the breath leave him at that. He looked back out at the basketball game, watching Dick laugh as he blocked Bart from making a score. He licked his lips, taking in a few even breaths. He could still smell the bonfire smoke, sweet and sticking to his clothes, his skin, and his hair. When he looked back at Will, all he could do was nod, clapping his hand over the one on his shoulder, before finally walking out. “Mind if I steal a player?” he interrupted the game.

“To be fair, I think we stole him first,” Bart retorted, bouncing the ball toward Wally. “Whaddya say? Two on two?”

Wally caught the ball, dribbling it a few times before passing it to Wallace. “Maybe later,” he replied. Wallace had to scramble a bit to catch the ball, but once he managed it, shot it into the hoop for a point that he seemed all too pleased with. Wally grinned as he noticed his younger cousin’s Flash shirt peaking out from beneath his jacket. “You like the Flash, huh bud?”

“Yeah, he’s the _coolest_ ,” Wallace grinned.

Wally chuckled. “I’ve gotta agree with that. You’re starting at Keystone Middle School next year, right?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Check out the Fan Club they’ve got there,” Wally smiled as he reached out to ruffle his hand over the boy’s short, curly hair. “I used to be the President.”

Wallace’s face lit up. He was only ripped from his awe when Bart took the opportunity to grab the ball and score himself a point. As the game continued, Dick eased his way off the makeshift court, joining Wally in the grass beside the drive way.

Wally’s smile turned sultry, completely hamming it up and _knowing it_ as he let his hands settle on Dick’s waist. “Hey, good lookin’,” he said as he jerked his head out toward the fields. “Wanna ditch?”

“You want to ditch your own party?” Dick raised a brow.

Wally’s smile relaxed. “I think it’ll go on just fine without me. Besides,” he shrugged, “could use some fresh air.”

Well, there was no arguing with that, was there? Dick’s expression melted into sympathy as he nodded and took Wally’s hand. Neither of them let go as they walked across the deserted country road. Past the church, and past the cemetery with its headstones glinting in the moonlight, they walked out into the fields until the lights of the houses and the bonfire were warm specs behind them. They walked along already warn footpaths through the fields, as they further they went the higher the crops became, all swaying in the late night breeze. Before long, the only other sound aside from their footsteps was that rustle of wind and the familiar crickets. This far from the city and suburbia, the stars peaked through the inky black with a diamond clarity, dusting the sky until they faded into the light of the distance metropolis.

They didn’t stop until they’d made it to the far end of the field, where like the night Dick had found Wally after his crash, a single oak tree stood. Its leaves were turning colour, slower than the rest, and it stood on top of a rare, slopping hill. Dick and Wally had been laughing like kids the entire time, tugging at each others hands to keep up, like they were going somewhere secret. As they came to the tree, looking down at the distant spattering of lights on the horizon, Dick let go of Wally’s hand in favour of leaning back against the trunk.

“I got a call back from Star Labs in Gotham earlier,” he said. “After what happened the other night, I want to start getting you in for testing to see how the Speed Force really affected you. There’s a physisist there who’s worked with Barry before, Dr. Lee, she’ll-”

“Yeah, uh-huh, that’s real interesting, babe,” Wally cut him off flippantly as he slid his hands over Dick’s hips and stepped in close, mouth trailing along his neck.

Dick swallowed back a moan. “Hm... comforting to know that your own health is such a big priority,” he murmured, even as he tilted his head to the side.

Wally took the invitation, allowing his lips to roam the expanse of Dick’s neck. “I’ve got other priorities at the moment,” he grinned against Dick’s jugular, working his way down to that well-memorized sensitive junction of his neck and collarbone. It was there, however, that his lips grazed over a gold chain. Wally paused for a moment before pressing his forehead against Dick’s, his finger curling around the chain until the little gold band on the end of it lifted out from beneath Dick’s shirt. “You know... you never did give me an answer.”

There was a ghost of a laugh in Dick’s exhale, his smile just barely tugging at his lips. He looked up at Wally, not once shying away from him. “You really want to know what I would have said?”

“Kinda.”

Now there was no mistaking that laugh. It was quiet, but it was there. Dick strung his arms around Wally’s shoulders. “Alright. Well, to be fair, I had a lot of time to give it some thought. But the moment I saw that ring, I know what I realistically would have said,” he murmured, guiding him in for a smooth kiss. “Wally West,” he began between brushes of his lips, “when you would have asked me to marry you in whatever idiotic, grossly romantic way you decided to ask,” another kiss, “I would have stared at you in shock,” another kiss, “pulled you off your knees and kissed the life out of you,” just as slow and easy as the last, “told you I love you more than anything....” Dick finally pulled back, a coy smile taking Wally’s place on his lips. “And said _no_.”

Wally gaped back at Dick until, of _all things,_ he found himself laughing. “You asshole,” Wally smirked with a playful shove at Dick’s hips. Still he made no move to leave the embrace. “Why, huh?”

Dick only shook his head, shaking with his own amusement. “I was 19, Wally! I didn’t have anything figured out yet... anything but _you_. I would have wanted to get a little more settled before I married you. I would have wanted to make sure we could make it work. But...” Dick trailed off, smile fading as he closed a hand around Wally’s, the ring trapped on the chain between them. In the autumn night’s ambiance quiet, Dick stared down at their joined hands before lifting his deep blue gaze to Wally’s. “But, I’ll tell you one thing. I would have kept the ring.”

That was a promise if Wally’d ever heard one. Maybe he’d jumped the gun back then, buying the ring and deciding to propose when they were still objectively so young. But knowing that Dick’s answer wouldn’t have been permanent, more of a _not now_ than an outright never... it set his heart shooting fire through his chest. Wally let go of the ring, slipping his hand over Dick’s waist and to the small of his back, pressing him up a little harder against the tree as went in for the kiss. Dick dropped his hand as well, but it didn’t return to Wally’s shoulder. As he kissed back, Dick’s hand slipped into his back pocket, fishing something out before holding it between them again.

Dick broke away, biting back a smirk at Wally’s clear disappointment at that. “If it makes it up to you, though... I do have something for you,” he said as he took Wally’s hand off his back and held it between them. He pressed something small and metallic into the palm of Wally’s hand. When Dick moved his hand back, Wally looked down to find a little silver key in his palm. “That’s why I was late getting back here the other night...” he murmured. “I should have done this weeks ago, Wally. I was just...”

“Hey,” Wally whispered, slipping the key into his back pocket in favour of cupping Dick’s cheeks with both hands. “You needed time to adjust. I get it, okay?”

Dick blinked rapidly, forcing back the sudden watery shine in his eyes as he beamed breathlessly and nodded. In that moment, Wally couldn’t help but remember the last time they did this - on a rocky shore overlooking the San Francisco Bay, when Wally had given Dick a key to his apartment. Only that time, it wasn’t really Wally asking Dick to move in with him, or at least it hadn’t started out like that. It’d been a gesture of love and trust, of letting Dick know that he could always come to Wally as a safe haven for as long as he needed. They’d eased into it back then, until neither of them could remember when Dick had actually started living there. This was different. This was a fresh start.

Wally dipped down and kissed Dick soundly. That, right there, was the only home he needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap. I truly hope this was a satisfying ending, because in the end, I'm satisfied with it. Your comments, as always, mean the absolute world to me. Let me know what you thought, how you're feeling, everything. There's a lot more to come from Watercolour. If you'd like to follow me in the mean time, check me out at my links below for the emotional equivalent of watching a dude in their 20's sob about fictional feelings, probably ass deep in ice cream and coffee. 
> 
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